Graduation Presents
by ty.soglasna
Summary: HGGW femslash. After a year away, Hermione returns, only to show up in disguise at Ginny's graduation ball. What secrets will be uncovered before the night is over? And will they be brave enough to finally reveal their feelings?
1. Herman Granston

Ginny hasn't seen Hermione for a year, since the defeat of Voldemort, and now she's graduating from Hogwarts. Then an odd-looking stranger shows up at the graduation ball and asks her to dance…Who could it be? gw/hg eventual slashy deliciousness :)

A/N: no, i do not own Harry Potter, nor am i JK Rowling, nor am i making any profit whatsoever from this. aka, no copyright infringement intended! the whole story is written already, so i'll probably post one chapter every couple of days. also, WARNING: this story will eventually contain a girl/girl relationship, so if that's not your cup of tea, stay away! because, if you read this chapter, you might get hooked and end up reading the slash chapters against your will...muwahahaha...

Graduation Presents

Ginny idly scanned the crowd from her place on the makeshift stage. Graduation was being held on the Quidditch pitch this year instead of the great hall because of the abnormally large size of the graduating class. Last year many more students had been pulled out of school because of the war, and now Ginny's year was swelled with students who had come back to finish or redo their seventh year.

Most of the students who had left had come back after Harry defeated Voldemort at the end of his seventh year. He had single-handedly hunted down the horcruxes and finally the Dark Lord himself, and staged the final battle on the very grounds of Hogwarts. Ron had just barely graduated with the rest of his year, because of the three weeks at the end of the year he spent with Harry in Scotland tracking down and destroying the last horcrux. Hermione, acting as Harry's source at Hogwarts, had had no trouble graduating on time either, despite the mountains of extra research she had taken on to help Harry in his quest.

Ginny felt a pang of regret at the thought of Hermione - she hadn't seen her friend since the end of school last year. She tried to distract herself from this line of thought before the pang of regret grew into the dull ache of longing that had been an ever-present background to her life since the end of last year. Hermione had rushed off to Australia to retrieve her parents as soon as it was safe, and then had taken an internship with the American Ministry of Magic in their Muggle Relations department, according to her letter.

Hermione had written regularly since then, but the letters were always just newsy updates about her job. Ginny knew she couldn't expect the letters to ever say what she really wanted them to say, but she was still frustrated at how impersonal they always seemed. She and Ginny had been close friends at Hogwarts, and Ginny missed their late night confidences, and insignificant secrets, and the easy conversations they could have about anything and everything. She would happily settle for just getting her friend back, but after this year apart, she didn't quite know where they stood. Sighing, Ginny turned away from her thoughts for a moment to check how close it was to her turn.

"Vance, Elizabeth," read Headmistress McGonagall from her list at the podium. Elizabeth Vance, one of the super-seventh-years, walked up to the podium and received her diploma from her head of house, Professor Sprout.

Ginny scanned the crowd, and found her family easily. Eight heads of flaming red hair were not hard to miss anywhere, even in the huge crowd of families, friends, and alumni that were gathered there. Fred and George caught her eye and gave her identical mischievous smiles, which made Ginny suspicious. She knew that look; it meant they were up to something. But hopefully they weren't planning anything too disastrous…she remembered Ron's graduation all too well, and didn't look forward to magical fireworks going off as she received her diploma. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had obviously not seen Fred and George's faces, for they waved encouragingly when they saw Ginny looking their way. She smiled back and turned her attention back to the stage, in time to hear McGonagall call her name.

"Weasley, Ginevra."

Ginny walked up the stairs to the podium and shook hands with McGonagall, who handed her a thick scroll tied with a red and gold ribbon. Before she could walk away, McGonagall put a hand on her shoulder to still her, and announced, "On the behalf of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, I present to you the Order of the Phoenix, in honor of your outstanding contributions to the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" With this, she placed a heavy gold medal adorned with a flying phoenix motif around Ginny's neck. Ginny beamed. Neville, Ron, Hermione, and quite a few other students in Ron's year had received the Order, but Ginny was one of the few in her year who had. She already knew her family was very proud of her, whether or not her contribution had been recognized officially, but receiving the Order would be cause for yet more celebration.

True enough, the Weasleys were overjoyed when they met up with Ginny after the ceremony. Mrs. Weasley swept her up in a huge hug, and she received numerous congratulatory back-slaps from her brothers, and two kisses on each cheek from Fleur, who breathed, "Congratulations, Ginny; Beel and I are vairy happy for you!"

Ginny smiled, feeling surrounded by warmth, and let herself be carried along in their tide of excitement. They walked off together to the Great Hall for the Graduation feast, which promised to be extravagant. What she was really looking forward to came after the feast, though. In the evening came the annual graduation ball, which was only open to graduates, alumni, and guests. Current students were not allowed to come, even as guests, so Ginny had gone through hearing about each of her brothers' fabulous graduation balls without ever having gone herself. It was going to be so much fun.

After the feast, the round tables were pushed back, so that almost the entire great hall was open as a dance floor. At one end of the hall, a small orchestra played classically inspired ballroom dance music, and swaying couples filled the floor. It was only eight o'clock in the evening, so many of the graduate's parents and families were still there, enjoying the ball. Ginny stifled a giggle as she looked over and saw professor Slughorn dancing with her Great Aunt Muriel, who had insisted on coming to see her youngest grand-niece graduate.

Ginny and her friends had claimed a table far away from the orchestra and now they were talking animatedly. Most of them were single right now, and they were all waiting for dancing later that evening, with a band, when partners would not be strictly necessary. Ginny, for one, didn't particularly feel like dancing. The thrill of finally graduating and then the jubilant, raucous air of her family's table at the feast had begun to wear off, and now she found herself thinking about Hermione again.

She only seemed to get crushes on people who were totally unavailable. First Harry, and now this…but after she met Hermione, he hadn't really stood a chance. That childish obsession had only been based on her image of him, and didn't last once she finally got to know Harry Potter, the person. Of course, she hadn't developed a crush on Hermione right away, but it was inevitable really; Ginny couldn't imagine feeling any other way. When Hermione had never shown any inclination to reciprocate her feelings, though, she had told herself to just give up, and date people who were available. There turned out to be plenty of these, but none of her relationships had really felt right, and she had dumped many boyfriends when they just weren't what she was looking for. Hermione, on the other hand, now she was perfect in every way…

"Ginny, are you ok? You look kind of sad…" Persephone Winters, one of Ginny's dorm mates, inquired from across the table.

"No, I'm fine, just tired. Long day, you know?" But she vowed to herself that she wouldn't spend the whole graduation ball sulking and pining after a girl who was thousands of miles away and definitely not interested. She looked around to see if there were any boys she knew who weren't already dancing. This was her graduation ball, damn it, and she should be having fun.

Just then, a young man who Ginny had not noticed before detached himself from a pillar he had been leaning on and came walking toward Ginny's table. He was of medium height, with large horn rim glasses that covered half his face; long, straight, brown hair pulled back from his head into a ponytail; and a rather incongruously bushy handlebar mustache and sideburns.

Aside from the unfortunate facial hair choice, Ginny decided, he looked nice enough. Long hair was uncommon on any but the most traditional, pureblood wizards, but somehow it didn't look out of place on the stranger. Ginny saw that he was wearing dark maroon dress robes with a brown silk tie and matching brown pants – quite classy compared to what the twins had chosen. The stranger stopped in front of Ginny's seat and gave a half-bow. "Would you care to join me for the next dance?" he asked politely, in a curious accent.

"Why, I'd be delighted!" said Ginny, picking up on his polite manner. Odd-looking though he might be, here was an opportunity for fun standing right in front of her, and she wasn't about to spend any longer sulking at the table. She rose out of her chair, and they made their way out onto the dance floor.

After an awkward pause, Ginny reached out to take his hand, and he hurriedly put one arm around her waist, and let her take his other hand. Ginny was just short enough to rest her head on his shoulder, which she did as they began swaying around the room in time to the music. His shoulder felt rather bulky and stiff, and she wondered, in amusement, how many layers he must be wearing under his dress robes. They danced in a somewhat awkward silence for a few moments, before the stranger broke it by clearing his throat.

"Congratulations on your Order of the Phoenix award," he said. "Your family must be proud."

"Oh, you were there?" said Ginny, taken by surprise. She shifted slightly so they could look at each other and talk. "I mean, thank you! They are proud of me…I'm afraid you have an unfair advantage now," she continued. "You obviously know who I am from the ceremony, but I still don't know your name!"

"Oh-I'm Herman Granston," he stuttered slightly, seeming distracted by something.

Fin (de chapitre)

A/N sorry to break at this point, but there's no good place to put chapter breaks, really. also, there will be more dialog later, i swear. it doesn't stay this angsty and introspective : ) so...review begging time! ...you don't even have to like it, i just want to hear your thoughts...you must have SOME thoughts after reading this, right? the little button is right down the, calling out to you!


	2. Champagne and Cheesecake

DISCLAIMER: i do not claim to own these characters or to be making any money off them at all whatsoever. JK Rowling does all that! geez guys!

A/N: so here's the next chapter! it's lots longer than the first one but also more action-y ... but here i am giving away my own story! just read it... also, i have two papers due within the next week, so if i don't update to often, that's why (ggrrrr, midterms). I'll probably have chapter 3 up by sunday, probably? this could be a nice little pattern forming here...

WARNING: this story, indeed this very chapter, contains girls kissing (each other). If "that sort of thing" bothers you then please do not read any further...it's that simple! or, alternatively, you could read it, and then flame me, thus providing my entertainment for the evening! ...either way...

2. Champagne and Cheesecake

Ginny had noticed the stutter and thought this odd, but didn't comment. She searched for something else to say before the budding conversation died. "I don't recognize your accent; do you not come from around here?"

"I do come from here, actually. I went to school at Hogwarts; but I've been working in America for the past year. The muggles there are fascinating; everything is! It's really different from here," he added, brightening up. Ginny wondered what year he had been. He didn't look more than two or three years older than her, though it was hard to tell.

"Oh?" prodded Ginny, mildly amused. He reminded her of someone, she thought. Her father? No, that wasn't it…besides, Mr. Weasley wasn't interested in muggles themselves, as much as in their inventions. She laid her head back on Herman's rather stiff shoulder, and settled in to listen. She knew she had only met Herman a few minutes ago, but dancing together, in his arms, didn't feel strange at all.

"Yeah! Did you know that there are actually free, independent communities of house elves living there? And they're recognized by the American Ministry!" Seeing Ginny's look of interest, he kept going. "…Apparently most of wizarding community there came over with the first settlers, and hardly any of them were rich enough to have house elves. Cotton Mather had some, more than a dozen, actually, but they staged a rebellion and forced him to clothe them. After that, all of the reports say that no one could hold onto an elf for more than a month or so before it ran off into the woods to join the rebels." Ginny smiled as he paused to spin her around in the dance, and then continued the story. "They stayed in hiding for generations, but then in the 1960's, somehow they found out about the muggle civil rights movement and used the same tactics on the American Ministry of Magic." He dipped her, a bit too low, and overcompensated in bringing her back up. Catching his breath, he continued enthusiastically, "Now they have the same rights as wizards there! Isn't it fantastic?"

"I had no idea it was like that there, that's awesome!" she agreed. Ginny grinned. Her dance partner definitely reminded her of someone she knew…hmmm…this could get interesting. The song changed and they continued to dance, and the conversation gradually began to flow more smoothly. She drew closer to Herman, and was taken by surprise…it was hard to tell, under all the bulk of his robes, but as far as she knew, men's chests didn't feel like that…and she had had enough boyfriends to be pretty sure what they were supposed to feel like. A wild idea crossed her mind – _could he be…?_ but she dismissed it just as quickly. It was just because she wanted so much for Hermione to be here that it had occurred to her in the first place. But no matter…if her dance partner wasn't quite what he seemed, then that was certainly his own business and no one else's. _Still, _she thought_, it can't hurt to stick around and see if I'm right. _After a few more songs, the orchestra stopped to take a break, and most of the couples who had been dancing drifted over to the refreshments table.

"Look at that crowd!" Ginny exclaimed, in annoyance. "It'll be impossible to get at the refreshments now."

Herman winked and excused himself, coming back five minutes later carrying two flutes of champagne and a small plate loaded high with sweets. "Brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, taking her glass. Impulsively, she leaned over and pecked him quickly on the cheek. "Thank you!" she said, meaning it. Herman immediately flushed pink and looked away, and mumbled, "You're welcome."

"Hey, let's take this outside," Ginny suggested, motioning to the plate full of desserts. "It's so crowded in here, there won't be room to sit." _Also, I wouldn't mind having more time alone with you,_ she thought…_especially if my theory is true…_

Indeed, the throng had started to move away from the dessert table toward the few tables and chairs that lined the edges of the hall. Most of the seats were already occupied by older relatives, and there would be little room for younger people unless they had been sitting there all along, like Ginny's friends.

"Good idea," Herman said, and they moved toward the doors of the great hall. Just outside the entrance, a decorative semi-circular terrace had been set up for the occasion, with benches lining the perimeter and shrubberies artfully scattered all around. A few couples had taken advantage of the mild weather and were sitting on the benches, chatting, or in one case, apparently snogging each other senseless.

"Let's go this way," Ginny suggested, motioning in the general direction of the lake. There was still light showing in the western sky, but the stars had started to come out up above. It was a clear, warm night, and the moonlight falling on the waters of the lake in the distance sparkled gently.

Some minutes later, they reached the lake and strolled along a path that followed the shore, sipping their champagne and chatting animatedly. Ginny was a bit surprised that there weren't any other couples walking on the grounds, but the music had started again inside the Great Hall, and all the couples who had been on the terrace had gone back inside - except for one, who were doing something rather enthusiastically under the bench they had been sitting on. Ginny and Herman reached the lake, and as they rounded a bend in the shore, the entrance to the castle disappeared from sight and the enthusiastic couple with it.

The two of them walked on in a companionable silence, following the edge of the lake, and finally climbing a low rocky rise that jutted out from the shore into the lake. It was a few meters higher than the surrounding ground, and on top of it grew a copse of small pine trees. Herman spread his cloak out under the trees, and they sat down to admire the view. The view from the rise was fantastic. They could see craggy mountains receding into the distance, and the lake, with small sparkling waves as far as the eye could see, and in the distance the towers of Hogwarts were still visible. Everything was bathed with moonlight, and the overall effect was dazzling.

Ginny heard the snap of a twig of a small animal making its way through the copse behind them. There was a soft rustle of pine needles, and then everything was silent except for the distant call of a night bird. Herman put the still-untouched plate of desserts down between them and took a toffee nut nugget.

"It's too bad we finished the champagne on the walk here; now we have to eat this alone…. Not that I'm complaining!" said Ginny as she picked up a miniature chocolate cream tart. "These are delicious!"

"Mmmmm," Herman agreed, his mouth full of the nugget, which was apparently stickier than it looked. He swallowed, then said, "Here, give me your glass." Ginny complied, curious. Herman took her glass and held his wand above it. That wand—Ginny was sure she had seen it before, and it didn't seem likely that Olivander would have sold two so similar. She smiled to herself, still more interested to see where this was all going.

With a small frown of concentration, Herman flicked the wand ever so slightly and a stream of pale yellow, bubbly liquid flowed out of the wand tip and into the glass. He handed it back to Ginny, smiling generously, and did the same to his own glass. Ginny sniffed the contents of her glass and then grinned.

"To magical champagne!" she said, clinking their glasses together. "That was seriously cool…the only nonverbal spells _we_ learned were for defense. Is it hard?"

Herman smiled even wider at the compliment. "No, it's not hard once you know how it works. That one is actually just a variation of _aguamenti_, the water spell. Basically, the theory is the same, you just have to change the incantation based on what liquid you want. Variations in the wand movement correspond to changes in the temperature of the liquid. The incantation for wine is _vinomenti_; if you don't want just plain wine then it has to be nonverbal so you can mentally direct it to be what kind you do want. Of course, actually conjuring wine from nothing would violate the first principle of the law of Transfiguration, so what the spell does is conjure water from nothing and then transfigures it into another liquid temporarily, so you can't ever get really drunk off conjured alcohol unless you consume more than ten drinks an hour, or something ridiculous like that…" He trailed off.

Ginny stifled a laugh with an overly large bite of a raspberry-cheesecake-shortbread square. She _definitely_ knew who "Herman" reminded her of now, but it still didn't make any sense. She finished chewing, and took a sip of the magically produced champagne.

"This is really good!" She said, though she had been expecting as much. "Can I try making some? After we finish these, I mean?"

Herman nodded confidently. "Yeah, you'd be able to do it fine."

They finished off their champagne and the rest of the desserts, and then Ginny moved the empty plate off to the edge of the cloak and scooted closer to her mustachioed companion. "Ok, I'm going to try it now. _Vinomenti_, right?"

"Yeah. It'll be easier to stick to the basic, verbal charm for starters."

She held her wand over her glass, and said "_Vinomenti_!" aloud, copying Herman's earlier wand flick. Instantly, a thick, slightly lumpy purple-red liquid flowed from the tip of her wand into her glass. "Oh no, I messed it up!" cried Ginny, holding her glass up to her face to inspect it.

"No you didn't, not really," said Herman, leaning in to examine the results. "You just went a bit overboard on the temperature control part. It's frozen!"

They both laughed and Ginny took a sip of her experiment. To her surprise, it didn't taste half bad. "Here, try this," she said, offering the glass to Herman. He tried it, and also looked surprised. "It's like…a wine slushy," he proclaimed, after some deliberation.

"A slushy?" asked Ginny, looking at him over her glass.

He met her eyes, and couldn't seem to look away. "It's …. an American drink…frozen fruit flavored…slush." He was less articulate now than he had been all evening.

Deliberately, Ginny lowered her glass and leaned in to close the few inches that were separating them, never breaking eye contact. Herman was completely motionless, not even blinking, apparently transfixed by her gaze. Keeping her eyes wide open, Ginny closed the remaining distance between their faces and laid one small, tender kiss on his mouth. She had to aim carefully to avoid his large, bushy, handlebar mustache, which grew down to cover part of his upper lip and went down past both corners of his mouth. After a moment, he seemed to break out of his trance somewhat, and started kissing her back. His enormous, bushy mustache got in the way however, and scratched Ginny under her nose. Involuntarily, she pulled back and sneezed.

Not fazed, she leaned back in, wrapping her arms around her companion, and kissed him again, trying to avoid kissing more mustache than lips. She was finally kissing Hermione, (unless she was sorely wrong in her guess, and she didn't see how she could be), something she had thought would never happen in her waking life. Then Probably-Hermione slowly moved "his" arm around her waist, drawing her closer, and she could feel him smiling under her kiss. Unfortunately, she found she couldn't focus on what she was doing with the large mass of facial hair in the way, tickling her face. She broke the kiss, but didn't loosen her embrace.

"This has to go." she proclaimed, matter-of-factly. Herman, who still had a look of dazed bliss on his face, gave his head a small shake as though to clear it, and said, intelligently, "What?"

"This mustache! It's damn hard to kiss you with it on…" Ginny smirked mischievously. "Unless you didn't want me to kiss you again."

"I, of course I do, I mean, what do you mean?" he said, with looks of confusion, bliss, and suspicion fighting for dominance on his face.

Just then, another twig snapped in the copse behind them, and there was a louder rustle. Something hard hit Ginny on the arm, and she yelped in surprise and jumped back.

"What the hell was that?" she cried, looking around furiously. "Herman" was still sitting where he had been a moment earlier, stricken. He was staring into the trees with a look of anguished terror. "Oh shit…it can't be…" he breathed.

A witch emerged from the trees, pine needles covering her hair and robes. "What the fuck do you think you're DOING?" she shrieked, and lobbed another pine cone at Ginny.

"How did you get here?" Herman demanded, voice shaking. The witch, who looked to be in her early twenties, didn't respond, but just eyed Ginny and adjusted her grip on the pile of pine cones she was holding, as if selecting which one to lob next. There was an unnatural, dangerous glint in her eye.

Ginny knew better than to be caught unawares this time, and caught the pine cone that sailed toward her head the next moment with the effortless grace of a Seeker.

"It's not important how I got here!" cried the intruder in the same shrill, manic voice. "What's important is why the fuck were _you_ snogging my _girlfriend_?" This last question was aimed at Ginny. Ginny didn't have a chance to answer, because the witch had turned on Herman again.

"And you! How could you do this to me, Her-mee-own?" Ginny shuddered at the american slaughter of the familiar name, but felt a thrill of vindication. She had been right all along! The witch's tirade was apparently just starting though, for she continued on in the same shrill voice.

"Do I mean nothing at all to you? Did you not stop to consider for ONE MINUTE how it might make me feel before you went off and seduced this- this- this- _little girl_? I bet she's not even of age! Or did you even think to ask? Because anyone's better than me, right?!" She was by now yelling hysterically, tears pouring down her face, but Ginny could see beads of sweat standing out on Hermione's own, terrified, face. The hysterical witch drew her wand and advanced on Hermione, menacingly. Hermione's eyes grew huge and she quickly retreated a few paces, mute.

"Don't think I'll let you get away with this-I'll make you PAY!" she raised the wand.

With an incoherent "eep!" Hermione turned tail and scrambled down the rock, making off at breakneck speed around the lake in the direction of the castle. "Don't run away from me, you bitch!" screamed the witch, and made to follow Hermione down the rock.

Ginny had had enough of this. With one last glance at Hermione's retreating figure, she took charge of the situation at hand. "Stupefy!" she cried, and a jet of red light shot from her wand, hitting the intruder in the back. She immediately fell limp, and slid from view with a sound like a sack of potatoes being rolled down a ramp.

-ici finit la chapitre-

A/N - i love crazy lesbian exes, don't you? they're just so hilarious and tragic at the same time...wonder how Hermione managed to pick one up so fast? hint hint. but seriously, getting reviews makes me write faster for REALZ guys. that little button's just calling out to you, in its little voice...hear it? yes?

Razor bladed heart - glad you like it! i don't like keeping people waiting, in fact the amount i like keeping people waiting is probably inversely proportional to the amount you like to read new chapters...yeah...or something like that...

Morbid WereWolves - yeah, it reminded me of Masquerade too...thanks for pointing that out early, i hadn't noticed quite how close they were...it was a problem. but now i rewrote a bunch and now it's going to be an even more kick-ass story! (can you tell i'm excited?) hope you keep reading!

Armed Metropolis - lol, it was kind of obvious, huh? oh well, this is fanfic, not a murder mystery! i always get crushes on unavailable (ahem straight ahem) people too, so it was really easy to write that part...poor Ginny!

Vampslayer08 - thanks! you're awesome! and yesssss, i am a fan of tatu. they're pretty much my favorite band of all time :) ty soglasna isn't my favorite song of theirs ever, but it has distinct femslash-y undertones, which makes me happy, so it seemed appropriate. even if they are fake lesbians...whatever!

ogis - here's more! was that soon enough for you? i try, really!


	3. The Plan

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to own the characters, because they belong to JK Rowling. No copyright infringement intended!

A/N: I still haven't started those papers, so my previous warning still holds-there might be a slight delay in updating over the next few days. On to the chapter!

warning: In case you couldn't tell, this is a slash story... i.e. gayness ensues! if you don't like it, you probably don't want to read this. I'm just sayin'...

The Plan

That same morning, Hermione had walked down Diagon Alley, turned down a smaller alley alongside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and climbed the rickety wooden staircase to a second-story side door. She knocked, and a loud crash emanated from somewhere inside the building. There was a sound of footsteps, and then Fred opened the door.

"Hermione! Fancy meeting you here!" He was wearing a vibrant, purple-and-green spotted robe, neither of which color went with his hair at all. Hermione hoped it was pajamas, and not what he was planning on wearing later on.

"Good morning, Fred," she replied. "May I come in?"

"Never!" said Fred, jovially, but nevertheless opened the door wider and ushered her in.

George sat at the small kitchen table, eating a plate of what appeared to be no fewer than fifteen sausages, and as many pancakes. The kitchen was filled with boxes and open bottles of what Hermione hoped were potions, and not more breakfast ingredients.

"Did you get my owl?" Hermione asked, sitting down in the chair Fred motioned her towards.

"Yes," the twins said in unison. George looked at Fred in mild annoyance.

"So, you'll help me?"

"Let's see…you want us to disguise you as a man and bring you to our sister's graduation this afternoon, so you can seduce said sister in said disguise at said graduation?"

Hermione nodded uncomfortably.

"Then you're on!" said George. "There's nothing we would rather do. Ginny's life has been far to quiet at Hogwarts this year, don't you think, Fred?" he winked deviously at his twin. Fred, who was standing at the stove serving himself an equally large plate of pancakes and sausages, enthusiastically agreed.

"So, Hermione, what do you want to look like?"

H H H

In the end, they hadn't given her much choice. Hermione had insisted that they not use any magic to transform her appearance, so they had convinced her that their only choice was to hide as much of her face as possible. Hence the glasses, mustache, and sideburns. Fred went down to the shop, which was closed that day because both twins would be at Hogwarts with their family, and returned with a pink pot that had on it a picture of a beautiful witch repeatedly and exuberantly flipping her hair.

"Hair straightening potion," Fred explained at Hermione's inquisitive look. "She'd recognize that hair a mile away; did you honestly think we were going to let you leave it like that?"

Without waiting for her to reply, he began applying generous amounts of the potion to her hair. The final result was so sleek and smooth that Hermione was almost compelled to do some hair flips of her own, and upon noticing her satisfaction, the twins insisted that she take three free pots of it.

Hermione had brought her own dress robes, the ones her father had bought to wear to her own graduation. She cast a color-change charm on them just in case Ginny somehow recognized them – she had been at Ron's graduation, after all – and she was quite pleased at the results. They were now maroon and brown; much better than their former overly-preppy pale yellow and khaki.

She looked at the padded body suit the twins had given her to wear under her shirt. She had to admit, once she put it on, that it was ingenious. It was padded in all the right places to give her shoulders and chest a manly shape, and was tight enough around her chest that her breasts would never give her away unless someone was pressed right up against her. She was perfectly safe from detection.

"I'm decent!" she called to the twins, who came in to admire their handiwork. No one would recognize the somewhat odd-looking young man standing in front of them now as Hermione Granger.

George handed her a pair of large horn-rimmed glasses, explaining, "These are large enough to hide a good bit of your face, and we placed a very weak disillusionment charm on them…this way, no one will pay much attention to you unless you approach them, so you don't have to worry about other people finding you out."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate this," she said, taking the glasses.

"No problem, Hermione! We're just surprised that you came up with a plan so…worthy!"

H H H

Hermione was surprised at the plan herself, in fact. _It's just for one night, nothing could possibly go wrong_, she reassured herself as she sat in her chair at the far end of the Quidditch pitch, glad that the ceremony was almost over. The seats that had been set aside for the alumni and non-immediate family members were too far back to see very well from, and it was getting hot in the sun.

Finally, Ginny's name was called, and Hermione watched her walk across the stage and stand proudly next to McGonagall. Adding her voice to the cheering coming from the Weasley family's row, Hermione let out a celebratory whoop and clapped harder. Ginny crossed the stage back to her seat, beaming, diploma in hand and the Order of the Phoenix medal gleaming on her chest. She was obviously too far away to have noticed Hermione's yell.

The wizard sitting on Hermione's right was certainly close enough to have noticed it, and he leaned over to Hermione and asked in a confidential tone, "That your girlfriend that just walked?"

"Uh, no, we were just friends in school," Hermione answered, flustered by the mention of "girlfriend." It brought back bad memories…

"Too bad. She's a looker, that one." The wizard nudged Hermione and gave her an exaggerated, lascivious wink.

Hermione ignored him. She had indeed had a girlfriend during her year in America, but the experience was one she could not forget quickly enough. Hermione had broken up with Wanda after only a month, realizing what a mistake it was. Really, anyone who wasn't Ginny didn't seem good enough, although Hermione vowed to try to forget her after tonight. Hermione had forced herself to keep her contact with Ginny to a bare minimum since she left Hogwarts, because she was afraid that the temptation would be too great, and she would do something foolish…like this, pretty much.

But this wasn't foolish, Hermione reasoned. She would have one night to feel what it would be like to be with Ginny, without the "friend" dynamic intruding, and then she could move on with her life. Ginny would never be the wiser, and Hermione was sure that they could keep up some form of friendship still.

Hermione felt a bit bad about being so selfish, but there was really no way her plan could hurt anyone…Ginny had had many boyfriends without seeming the least bit upset by their eventual breakups, so surely she wouldn't care in the slightest if a man stepped in and out of her life for one night. Hermione cringed inwardly at the thought of Ginny's multiple boyfriends. If only she wasn't so _straight_, then maybe Hermione could have approached her directly, instead resorting to this underhanded plot.

At the end of the ceremony, she got up with the rest of her row and merged in with the crowd as they all ambled up the hill toward the castle. She was happy to find that even in the press of the crowd, no one gave her a second glance. Fred and George's partial disillusionment charm seemed to be working perfectly.

At the feast, she chose a table near the Weasleys', so she could keep an eye on Ginny without her seeing her. Her table quickly filled up with other singles, and they carried on a general buzz of small talk all throughout the seven courses of the feast. Hermione paid them little attention, however; she was too busy watching Ginny.

She looked absolutely gorgeous. She had on sage green spaghetti-strap dress robes and her long hair was loosely curled and falling down her back, and she positively glowing with happiness. Hermione could hardly pull her eyes away from the captivating sight, even when Fred (or was it George?) caught her eye and gave her a knowing wink.

H H H

At the end of the feast, Hermione slipped away from her table unnoticed, and followed Ginny at a distance to another table, where she sat down and began gossiping with her friends. Well, the other girls were gossiping together, but Ginny was just staring off into space. Hermione wondered what she was thinking, and realized that she didn't have any idea. The distance she had enforced between them had done its job and kept her from making any spontaneous declarations of love, but Hermione's heart ached to have her friend back.

The orchestra began playing, and the head boy and girl went to the center of the dance floor to do the opening dance. As they finished, a few older couples moved out onto the dance floor, and it gradually filled with swaying couples. Hermione kept watching Ginny, and was surprised to see that no one had yet asked her to dance. She had been planning on letting Ginny have a few dances with other people before she put her plan into action, so she wouldn't take over Ginny's whole evening, but Ginny was starting to look bored of her friends' banter. Now was as good a time as any.

There was an awkward moment when they started dancing before Hermione remembered that she had to take the man's position, but she soon fell into the rhythm of leading. She had her hand around Ginny's waist, and was acutely aware that she could feel the heat of her body through her silk dress robes, and the minute flexing of Ginny's quidditch-toned muscles under her hand as they danced. She hoped she wasn't blushing at the effect this small intimacy was having on her, but then Ginny leaned in and put her head on Hermione's shoulder, sending a thrill down Hermione's spine. She was sure she was blushing now, but at least Ginny couldn't see it.

They had been dancing in silence for a few minutes, Hermione simply drinking in the closeness of Ginny, when she remembered that as far as Ginny was concerned, she was a perfect stranger. The situation suddenly seemed all the more awkward. Hermione cleared her throat and cast about for something to say to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Congratulations on your Order of the Phoenix award," she said, meaning it. Ginny had been one of the leaders of the student countermovement during her sixth year, and had fought valiantly against the Death Eaters in the final battle at Hogwarts. "Your family must be proud," she added, knowing it to be true.

"Oh, you were there?" said Ginny.

She clearly had not noticed Hermione at the ceremony, unsurprisingly. She took her head off Hermione's shoulder and looked at her. Hermione felt disappointed at the now-cool spot on her shoulder, and wondered what she could do to get her to put her head back. She tuned in again to hear Ginny saying,

"….you obviously know who I am from the ceremony, but I still don't know your name!"

_Oh shit. What kind of guy doesn't introduce himself to the girl he's dancing with? She must think I'm such a creep!_

"Uh, I'm Herman Granston," she said, tripping slightly over the name she had chosen earlier. It sounded enough like her own name that hopefully she would answer to it convincingly, but it wasn't close enough that anyone should guess her true identity.

When Ginny clearly didn't take her neglect to introduce herself promptly as a sign of unacceptable sketchiness, Hermione relaxed slightly. They fell into a spirited conversation, and Hermione found herself telling about her house elf research of the past year. Ginny seemed to find the story funnier than it actually was, but Hermione didn't mind, because Ginny had seen fit to put her head back on Hermione's shoulder, and they were dancing close together, and Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had been this content.

Hermione was a bit surprised that they were still dancing together by the time the orchestra stopped for a break a while later – she had expected Ginny, one of the prettiest girls in her year, to be in high demand as a dance partner – but she wasn't about to complain. Ginny was laughing and flirting with her, and looking at her as though anything could happen, and she wasn't about to question her good luck so far.

Hell, she was going to try and make this last as long as she could, she thought, as she gave Ginny a flirtatious wink and moved off to the dessert table. Would it be too suspicious if she came back with all of Ginny's favorite desserts? Well, it certainly couldn't hurt, and the two of them happened to have a similar taste in sweets anyway. She took several chocolate-looking tarts, some decadent cheesecake squares that she knew Ginny would love, and some toffee-and-chocolate nuggets, to balance things out.

She grabbed two glasses of champagne from the drinks table, elated that they could both drink here with no questions asked. That was the only annoying thing about living in America-the stupid drinking laws. Alcohol was just so _helpful_ in situations like this, she thought, smiling deviously to herself, before reminding herself that this wasn't a situation like that. Soon Ginny would find someone else to dance with; as far as she knew she had just met "Herman," and this wasn't going to go anywhere.

Hermione fought her way back through the crowd at the dessert table, and couldn't keep herself from grinning at Ginny when she found her waiting just where she had been five minutes ago.

Ginny smiled back and said "Thank you," and then leaned over and kissed Hermione on the cheek. Hermione felt a wave of heat rush up from her chest, and she quickly turned her head away so that Ginny wouldn't see.

"You're welcome," she managed to reply.

She felt like laughing, and wrapping Ginny in her arms, and spinning her around, and kissing her hard on her smiling lips, and she was surprised that her voice did not betray the tide of elation that was threatening to break her smooth surface.

At that point, she would have done anything Ginny asked of her, so when Ginny suggested a walk on the grounds, she was more than willing to agree with it. _And who knows? The way things are going, this is looking more and more like a situation like that…_

H H H

fin du chapitre.

A/N – I just realized that _chapitre_ is masculine, not feminine, as I had previously assumed. Accidental grammar mistakes are the worst! (but it's all good now!) If you took the time to read all this, then you muuuuust have time to leave a review, right? it takes like, 30 seconds. DO IT!! ...and if you do i'll give you chocolate. or cookies. or chocolate cookies, or something.

ogis: Merci beaucoup! Tu es vraiment trop gentille : ) Aussi, tu gagnes un prix pour être la seuele personne qui a reviewé (seriously, i'm too lazy to get my dictionary) chapitre 2. Féliciatations! Ton prix est un très grand quantité de la chocolat imaginaire...mmmmm. Grosses bisous : )


	4. Run Away

Disclaimer: I'm still not JKR. 

A/N – Sorry for the longer-than-usual pause between chapters; midterms snuck up on me from behind and attacked! (I hate it when they do that) But good news is, they're all done now, so hopefully from now on updates shall be more frequent. (knock on wood…)

Warning: There's some more girls kissing in this chapter. If this bothers you in any way, then go ahead and leave now, and use the time you could have spent reading this to reevaluate your life. (I actually recommend this to anyone, it's quite therapeutic. but anyway.)

Run Away

At Ginny's suggestion, they made their way out onto the terrace and started walking down a deserted path that led toward the lake. As they went down the stairs from the terrace, Hermione caught a flash of silvery-white out of the corner of her eye, over toward one of the far benches. It hardly registered though, because she was too caught up in Ginny's continued presence. She had planned on stealing a few dances with Ginny under her disguise as a man, and then at least she would have the memories to enjoy. Flirting, long conversations, and walking alone on the grounds together had not entered into it.

Hermione was too happy to care about deviations from the plan, anyway, especially when they climbed up the rock and admired the view. This was a _decidedly_ romantic situation, she thought as she spread out her cloak for them to sit on, and Hermione found herself growing nervous. She had little real expertise in this area-Wanda didn't count at all; that had been too much of a fiasco to even count as a learning experience. Even under a false identity, she didn't want to hopelessly embarrass herself. She forgot her worries though, when Ginny pointed out the regrettable lack of more champagne to drink with the desserts. Here was something she knew she could do.

_Vinomenti_, she thought pointedly, holding her wand over Ginny's glass. At the same moment, she held the idea of perfect champagne in her mind, and gave her wand an almost imperceptible flick, so it would come out chilled. A stream of champagne flowed from her wand tip into Ginny's glass, and Ginny was obviously impressed. Hermione gladly explained the process when Ginny asked, only stopping when she realized that she was giving an overly-technical description of the spell, something most people who weren't Hermione didn't usually do when asked a simple question…

She stopped her enthusiastic explanation and looked over at Ginny, just as a cloud uncovered the face of the moon, and a bright beam of moonlight hit the spot where Ginny was sitting. Hermione almost gasped audibly, so taken was she with her friend's beauty. She was already very pretty in ordinary conditions, but these were far from ordinary...the moonlight picked out the highlights in her hair, giving her a faintly sparkly, glinting aura. Her face seemed to glow with enjoyment, and one part of Hermione's mind registered that it must be because of her that Ginny was enjoying herself so much, but she was too caught up in the beauty before her to pay that part much attention. Every plane and curve of Ginny's body seemed to be in perfect harmony, from the graceful bow of her smiling mouth, to her eyes which glittered brightly in the moonlight, to the curve of her shoulder where one strap of her dress robes had slipped down to her arm at some point…Hermione could have stayed drinking in the entrancing sight for hours, but she brought herself back to the present with a slight shake of her head. _Focus, Hermione! _She told herself._ No going off into dreamland while she's sitting right here next to you. _

Ginny gave the wine-conjuring spell a try, at Hermione's encouragement. Hermione knew she would be able to do it; she had always been strong in charms, and had often helped teach difficult charms to other students during the second incarnation of the DA. Unfortunately, when Ginny spoke the incantation, an icy slush poured from the wand, and she cried out in disappointment. Hermione saw her mistake at once—she had moved her wand far too violently; it only took the slightest flick to chill the liquid. Her mood brightened again when Hermione explained her mistake, and she sipped at the frozen liquid experimentally.

"It's actually good!" she exclaimed, surprised. "Here, try some!"

Hermione met Ginny's eyes over the cup and found herself unable to look away from Ginny's dancing, almost knowing look. Ginny didn't seem to be looking at "Herman"; Hermione felt like her eyes were looking straight past all the artifice of that night to the real Hermione. She tasted the proffered wine, and still entranced by Ginny's gaze, all she could think of was that it reminded her of a slushy that she had had once in an American movie theater.

"A slushy?" Ginny inquired, not breaking eye contact.

Hermione found herself unable to form a coherent answer, so captivating was Ginny's gaze. Then, before she knew what was happening, the glass was gone, and it was replaced by Ginny, leaning ever closer. Hermione stopped breathing and couldn't have moved if she wanted to. Then Ginny's lips met hers with a soft, tender lightness, and Hermione moved her head fractionally closer in order to kiss back. Then Ginny sneezed, jerking back, and Hermione's only thought was that she was already forgetting the sensation of the one short kiss, and she wanted to remember it forever. Then Ginny was holding Hermione in her arms and kissing her again, very carefully, and Hermione responded in kind, and tentatively put an arm around Ginny's waist. It was heaven.

But then, Ginny had sneezed again, and she broke the kiss and pulled back enough to say to Hermione, "This has to go," in a tone that brokered no argument. Hermione, whose mind was still reeling, gave her head a small shake to clear it, without much effect.

"What?"

"This mustache! It's damn hard to kiss you with it on…" Ginny smirked mischievously and Hermione felt her stomach do a half flip. "…Unless you didn't want me to kiss you again." Hermione's dazed mind battled with the opposing concepts of not kissing Ginny again, and the fact that Ginny obviously planned to do so, and how could she ask someone to take off their mustache… unless she knew?

"I, of course I do, I mean, what do you mean?" She stuttered, trying to express several lines of thought at once and utterly failing.

Ginny looked into her eyes just as a loud rustle came from the trees, and a pine cone flew out and hit Ginny hard on the shoulder. "Ow!" she cried, jumping up. Hermione froze.

"Oh shit…it can't be…" she breathed, tendrils of fear creeping into her voice.

But it was. None other than Wanda herself stepped from the trees, covered in pine needles, a look of crazed vengeance written across her face. Hermione had dearly wished never to see her again after they broke up. Especially after she heard the stories…

Her throat suddenly dry, Hermione swallowed and found her voice.

"How did you GET here?" she demanded, finding that her voice was shaking. Damn, she had thought that crossing the Atlantic ocean would put her out of the woman's reach once and for all! Wanda eyed Ginny threateningly, but Hermione was far more scared for herself. Wanda never laid the blame on her replacements; she seemed incapable of believing that anyone in their right mind would actually prefer someone else over her.

"It's not important how I got here!" The witch shouted maniacally, and she launched into a diatribe against Hermione. Hermione quailed in terror. There was no telling what this woman might do in her present state. Hermione nervously retreated, trying to plan her escape. If worst came to worst she could just make a run for it, and hopefully Ginny would be smart enough to follow.

All thoughts of Ginny were driven from her mind, however, when Wanda raised her wand and approached Hermione, an insane glint in her eye. Suddenly the stories of Wanda using an Unforgivable on her last girlfriend didn't seem so far-fetched. Hermione let out a strangled "eep!" and scrambled off the rock, self-preservation her only coherent thought as she ran at breakneck speed back to the castle.

H H H

She was breathing hard by the time she reached the doors of Hogwarts, and she sagged onto one of the benches on the terrace. She thought she had a pretty good head start on Wanda, who after all didn't know the grounds, but she still needed to find a place to hide until the crazed witch gave up looking for her and left. As she caught her breath, she heard a sound of murmured voices coming from the opposite end of the terrace. In fact, she thought she recognized the voices. She could make out a dark shape behind a bench there, and curious, she got up and went over to investigate.

The dark shape behind the bench resolved into what appeared to be two young men in a rather intimate position, reclining on the ground behind the bench. One had white-blond hair that shone in the moonlight, and the other had dark hair that blended into his companion's dark robes. They looked for all the world like – Harry and Malfoy? What she saw didn't make sense at first, but Hermione was a girl of facts, and if she saw something in front of her very eyes, it was hard to deny it. As implausible as it seemed, her first impression had obviously been right. Malfoy leaned with his back against the back of the bench, and Harry was reclined with his head in Malfoy's lap, looking out at the grounds dreamily while Malfoy let one hand play idly with Harry's hair. They both looked totally relaxed in each other's company, and were talking softly together.

Hermione was looking forward to hearing the explanation for _this_, but now was not the time. This was bound to be a long story, and it wouldn't take that long for Wanda to find her way up from the lake.

"Harry?" She said, her voice coming out a tad squeakier than she expected. Well, it was a bit of a shock finding the two of them like this. Not like she couldn't have seen it coming, though. She had never seen two people who were so obsessed with each other, except maybe the way Ginny had been obsessed with Harry in her first year. Oh, Ginny…

"Hermione?" asked Harry, as Hermione walked around the bench. "I didn't know you were here!" He scooted himself up to sit upright in Malfoy's lap, whose face had instantly assumed a mask of cool boredom at the sight of his former school mate.

"How've you been? Did you come with anyone?" Harry asked cheerily.

Hermione gave a nervous glance over her shoulder. "I've been fine, thanks, Harry. I would love to stick around and chat but I can't really stay out here in the open, like this."

"Why, what's the matter?" Harry looked instantly more alert, and shot a glance behind Hermione as if expecting a werewolf to materialize on the empty lawn behind her. Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Um, personal problems, nothing serious…Let's just say there's someone I really don't want to run into right now." Harry looked rather disappointed. Malfoy rolled his eyes again. Hermione had a sudden brainwave. "Harry, you wouldn't happen to know of any rooms in the castle that I could stay in for a bit, where no one would be able to find me?"

Harry brightened up again and reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment that Hermione recognized at once. _Why did he still have that?_ She bit back her reproach, though, deciding that the most important thing right now was to get out of Wanda's reach. Harry tapped the marauders' map with his wand and consulted it for a few minutes. Hermione threw another glance over her shoulder, involuntarily. His head still buried in the map, Harry beckoned her over.

"I would have just told you to use the Room of Requirement, but everyone knows about that now, so it wouldn't really do much good if you don't want to be found…The classrooms are all deserted though, because school's out, and Filch is in the dungeons with Mrs. Norris," he pointed at a spot on the map, "So you won't have to worry about them. This person you don't want to run into, did they go to Hogwarts?" he asked her, in a more calculating tone.

"No, she's never been here before," Hermione answered.

"Good! Then I'd say your best bet is the Divinations classroom; it's pretty hard to find and it doesn't even look like a classroom from the outside; but I doubt someone who doesn't know the castle would even be able to find it." Seeing her look of hesitation and interpreting it correctly, he pointed to the map again. "And you don't have to worry about Trelawney, she's in the Great Hall and I somehow doubt she'll be able to make it up to the tower tonight." He pointed to the dot on the map that said _S. Trelawney_, which was suspiciously close to where Hermione remembered the drinks table being in the Great Hall.

"Great, thanks!" said Hermione, hazarding another glance back toward the lake. Wanda should be emerging from the trees at any moment; Hermione hadn't got _that_ much of a head start. "Well, good night then, Harry…Malfoy," she added with a curt nod, feeling it not right to have ignored the other boy completely throughout the whole exchange. He returned her nod stiffly, and she turned and fled up the stairs into the castle.

She managed to reach the seventh floor without being seen; all of the people in the castle were in the Great Hall, and she had been able to sneak around the edge of the entrance hall so that anyone who happened to be looking through the open doors of the Great Hall would have missed her in the gloom. She cast a quick _Alohamora_ at the trap door, and climbed up into the dark Divinations room, closing and locking the door behind her. It looked exactly the same as it had the last time she had been there, so many years ago, on the day she had walked out. She walked over to a window and opened the heavy curtains to let the moonlight in, then sank back into a nearby pouf. She did nothing else to light the room; its dimness was perfect for brooding in, which was all she felt like doing right now.

The evening had been going so well – far better than she had ever planned on, and she had even begun let herself hope that she might actually have a chance with Ginny. She seemed to like "Herman" an awful lot, so maybe if Hermione had had a chance to let Ginny know that it was really her, they could have worked something out between them. Hermione didn't think Ginny would have stopped being interested once she knew Herman's real identity, and Hermione was sure she could have come up with a way to explain it all so that it made sense. But then her crazy ex had had to turn up, in the worst way possible, and Hermione had run, and now Ginny couldn't possibly still like Herman, seeing what his ex-girlfriend was like. In the heat of the moment, Hermione had never registered that Wanda had been calling her by her real name, leaving Ginny with a much different impression of the whole affair. Hermione picked up a gold-embroidered pillow and threw it angrily to the floor, and then got up to pace around the room. The events of that evening kept running around in circles in her head, but for once she could not think of any way out of her predicament. She sulked over to the window she had opened and stared out. Presently, a figure hurried across the lawn far below, but she couldn't tell who it was from this high up, and in the dark. _Probably that crazy witch out looking for me_, she thought. _I hope she gives up soon so I don't have to spend the whole night up here._ She didn't find this prospect too likely though, so she threw herself back down on the pouf. _Isn't my life just perfect?_ she asked ironically, as she settled in for a long, sleepless night locked in the Divinations room.

-fin (pour maintenant)-

A/N: Sorry for the angsty cliffhanger, but it's time to switch back to Ginny's POV now. Aren't you just dying to see what she makes of Wanda?? Reviews equal love!!!

planeAmage- Thanks! I had originally intended to have the pov's switch every other chapter, but that would have made some of the chapters really long, so I broke it up. I agree that it would make more sense that way….but I think having chapters that you could read in one sitting without your bum falling asleep is also pretty important!s3xy-Lady – hmmmm, we shall see if they get together! There's only one way to find out! (I'm so bad.)  
Vampslayer08- Thanks! I tried to make Wanda as crazy as I could, glad to see you thought so too :)  
Believe The Lie-Why thank you! haha, hope you come out of that closet eventually, it might get kind of boring in there.  
ogis-you complement me too much! what if I start to think too much of my writing abilities?? Just kidding; I think you're sweet to say that ; ) It's this kind of encouragement that keeps me writing the stories! bisous : )  
Razor bladed heart-I guess I just like ending at harsh places? ...because I did it again in this chapter...Don't worry, I have every intention of finishing this story!


	5. Of Giants and Squid

A/N: I'm super sorry that it took me so long to post this; I never never never meant for it to go almost a month between chapters! Probably everyone who was reading this story lost interest because it was taking so long, it would serve me right! ...ok, end of house-elf-worthy apologies...deep breath... By the way, this is (barring unforeseen circumstances!) going to be the next to last chapter, just so you know. Enjoy!

Warning: Swearing and mention of lesbianness. If this bothers you and/or you aren't allowed to read stuff with swearing in it, then please go somewhere else! (well, I used to be not allowed to watch movies with swearing, when I was like, 14, so you never know (it was pretty lame, though : P))

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm only borrowing them for a while! No infringement intended to JK Rowling or any of the associates she makes large amounts of money off of.

Chapter 5 - Of Giants and Squid  


Ginny kept her wand out cautiously, and scrambled down the side of the rock. She found the stunned witch in an awkward, unconscious heap at the bottom. The rock above her was not steep, so she had slid down rather than fallen when hit by Ginny's spell, and looked relatively free of injury. Not wanting to take any chances, Ginny dragged her inert body to the nearest tree, and tied her to it securely, before stopping to contemplate what to do next, now that she had gotten rid of the immediate threat. She was tempted to just leave the other witch there and run after Hermione right away, but this was something that needed to be done right.

Ginny waved her wand, and conferred for a few moments with the silvery white swan that billowed out of it. The swan swooped off, and Ginny crouched down on her heels in front of Wanda, and waited patiently for her to revive.

In a matter of minutes, the American witch woke up. She went to rub her head with her hand, but found it bound to the tree. She shot Ginny a stare that became even more venomous as she realized that she was completely tied up against the tree.

"Let me go! You have no right –" she sputtered, but Ginny cut her off.

"I have every right, actually. _You_ were the one who was threatening _us_, if you recall."

Wanda opened her mouth to speak, but Ginny silenced her with a wave of her hand. "I'm not done talking. Will you be able to stay quiet by yourself, or will I have to use force?" Ginny had a cold glint in her eye that the other witch obviously took seriously, for she mutely shook her head in response to Ginny's question.

"Good. Now, as I was saying; I believe I was fully justified in using force to stop you just now, and I'm sure the groundskeeper will agree with me when he gets here. But first," she said, ignoring the rebellious look in Wanda's eye, "I have a few questions for you." Seeing Wanda's mouth draw into a tight line, she added, "And if I don't get answers, I might just throw rocks in the lake until the giant squid comes up to see who's bothering it. It has really long tentacles; I think it could easily reach this far." She eyed the distance between them and the shore calculatingly.

Wanda turned a shade paler. Clearly, being investigated by an annoyed giant squid while tied to a tree was not her idea of a risk to take lightly. Ginny smiled.

"Good. Now, my first question is, how long have you known Hermione?"

"Longer than you have, slut," she sneered.

Ginny sighed inwardly. This was not going to be easy. She selected a fairly large stone from the ground, fixed Wanda with a you-made-me-do-it glare, and lobbed the stone far out into the lake, where it landed with an audible plunk. Wanda craned her neck to try to see behind Ginny, and make sure no monsters were rising up from the lake yet. Ginny turned back toward the tree and said, conversationally, "Let's try that again. I've known Hermione for seven years; and how long have you known her for?"

"A year," admitted the other witch sullenly.

"And how long ago did she dump you?"

"What are you talking about, she never-" Wanda started to rant again, indignantly.

"You're not fooling anyone, just cut it out. Remember, I know Hermione, and I'm not stupid. I'm surprised she even went out with you at all, but I know she's way too smart to stay in a relationship with someone as abusive as you."

"We didn't break up! We're going through a rough patch, that's all," said Wanda, retaining her offended air.

"Uh-huh," Ginny replied sarcastically. She didn't bother to hide her look of disgust. The Hermione she knew was far too good a reader of people to be taken in by this crazy woman for very long. On the other hand, the fact that they had been a couple at all concerned Ginny, and not just because of Hermione's apparent lapse in her ordinarily good judgment. Who knew what kind of harm this unstable woman could have inflicted, thought Ginny, reflecting on the way Hermione had run in terror earlier. She felt a pang of guilt at not going after her right away, but the need to get back at the despicable creature who had mistreated her friend won over. She was almost done here, and then she could go to Hermione.

Suddenly impatient, she snapped at the other witch. "I can't believe you, saying you and Hermione were still together – the nerve! Did you think I wouldn't see right through that? Hermione is a good, loving person, and far better than you deserve. She would never have treated someone she was seeing like that; I don't even want to think what you must have done to make her run away like she did."

She paused for breath. Her voice had been growing louder and shriller, but she didn't care. Damn, it felt good to get this out of her system. She continued, consciously lowering her voice to what she knew was a dangerous and threatening tone. "And if you ever go near her, you're going to have to deal with me first, you understand? Hermione means far too much to me for me to even think of letting someone like you anywhere near her. She doesn't want to be with you, you should be able to see that! And if you ever need any help remembering, I'll –"

Wanda's face suddenly turned white again, and she was looking over Ginny's shoulder. Ginny turned to follow her gaze, and saw a huge, hairy man approaching. Or at least that's what Wanda must have seen; Ginny saw the Hogwarts groundskeeper and her friend, Hagrid. He came up to where they were standing, and gave a hearty welcome to Ginny, who had called him.

"Hi there, Ginny!"

Ginny smiled at Hagrid. "Hi, Hagrid, thanks for coming so quickly! I was just finishing here."

"Not a problem! I was nearby anyway; Madame Sprout said she saw some pixies while she was cataloging wild herbs around here, and I thought I'd come by and see if there really were any. Yeh needed help?" he added, seeming to remember his reason for coming there.

"Yeah, I do…I found this witch trespassing on school grounds, and she threatened my friend and me at wand point. I had to stun her and tie her up before she did anything else," Ginny explained, gesturing toward the tree where Wanda was tied.

Hagrid grunted and looked the intruder over. "Yeh did right, Ginny. She's a dangerous one, this, I can tell by her look." Coming from Hagrid, this meant a lot. "I'll have to throw her out and write her up for trespassing, so we'll know it's her if she tries it again. Tha's bout all I can do, really, since she's not a student," he said regretfully.

Just then, there was a loud crashing sound from the general direction of the rocks, and Hagrid added hastily, "I brought Grawp w'me, he loves going around on the grounds so much, and there's really no harm in it at night, eh?" He smiled benevolently. "Grawp, come here and say hello to Ginny!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you!" he added, in an incrementally quieter tone, to Ginny.

Ginny somehow doubted this, seeing as she and Hagrid's giant half-brother had never actually spoken, but she was looking forward to the effect seeing Grawp for the first time would have on Wanda. She was not disappointed. Moments later, the giant lumbered up, an idiotic grin spread over his face, holding up one massive fist triumphantly. Wanda's mouth opened in a silent scream.

"I got icky!" he said, waving his fist to Hagrid, apparently unable to pronounce any close approximation of "pixie." Then he seemed to notice Wanda, who was petrified against her tree. He went over to her, all else forgotten, and let a bedraggled, minute figure fall from his hand and clumsily flit into the gloom. Wanda backed against the tree in abject terror, as though she wished to be absorbed into the trunk, but her bonds prevented her from getting any further from the approaching giant. He crouched down on all fours, and reached out an inquisitive, truck-like hand toward her.

"Hagger?" he asked uncertainly, clearly unsure of what to make of this new feature of the landscape. Hagrid moved to pull him back, but Ginny stopped him.

"Hagrid, let him...we both know he's not going to do her any real harm, but she doesn't know that. It can't hurt to shake her up a little before you throw her out, right?" Ginny said, persuasively.

Hagrid didn't seem to catch the gist of what Ginny was saying. "Oh, he won't hurt her! Jus' curious, he is," he said reassuringly. But as he didn't move to stop the giant, Ginny didn't see the need to enlighten him.

Grawp was apparently very curious. He broke the ropes surrounding Wanda effortlessly with one finger, and picked her up between his thumb and forefinger to bring her closer to his face. The witch was apparently unable to move from fear, and had turned white as flour. He turned her around, inspecting his new find from all angles, and deposited her in his other hand, where she landed in a heap. At this point, Wanda regained use of her muscles, and began to scramble to get off the enormous hand, but Grawp only closed his fingers, caging her in. There was a muffled yell and a flash of light from inside the fist as she apparently cast a spell in self-defense.

"OOOOOWWWW!!" Grawp howled with an intensity that left Ginny momentarily deaf, and reflexively flung the offending load from his stung hand, with astounding force. The struggling figure flew in a great arc out over the lake, before landing with a barely audible plunk in the water. Silence fell on the shore as the two humans followed the invisible path through the air with their eyes, to a place near the center of the lake where concentric ripples were slowly spreading. Grawp, heedless to the consequences of his action, was alternatively shaking his hand in the air and attempting to suck on the stung fingers, and whimpering quietly.

Hagrid turned to the giant and broke the silence. "Go get her, Grawp! You know better'n to throw things in the lake!"

Grawp removed the hand from his mouth, and mumbled in a voice like tumbling boulders, "But…but….Hurt!" He looked so genuinely offended that Ginny couldn't help but feel sorry for him, although she was sure that whatever spell he'd been hit with couldn't have had much effect on someone his size. She looked out to the lake, and was relieved to see from the violent splashing coming from the spot where she had disappeared, that Wanda had not drowned. Getting thrown into the lake by a giant was a better revenge than Ginny could have come up with herself, but she never intended to let her adversary come to any permanent harm.

In the meantime, Hagrid seemed to have persuaded Grawp to obey him, and the giant gamely plunged into the dark water and began swimming out to where the witch was still thrashing about. Ginny waited to see that Grawp had indeed succeeded in retrieving her, and when he turned to swim clumsily back to shore with his burden, she was satisfied. The incident with Grawp had no doubt shaken Wanda up more than Ginny could have done herself, and Ginny really had no more to say to her. Finding Hermione was her biggest concern now.

"Thanks for coming to help, Hagrid," she said, looking away from the lake. "I really appreciate it; who knows what she would have done otherwise…"

"Yeah," said Hagrid, "Jus' look how she hexed Grawp! That's a right dangerous one for yeh…"

Ginny waved goodbye to Hagrid and smiled as she walked off toward the castle. Trust Hagrid to call a human dangerous, and not the giant who had thrown her into the middle of the lake…

HHH

Ginny stood on the lawn in front of the castle with her hands on her hips, and began to work out what to do next. She knew where Hermione would most likely have gone if they were both still students, but both the dorms and the library had already been closed for the summer. Since she clearly wasn't outside in plain sight, she must have done some creative thinking and hid somewhere else in the castle. Ginny had already wasted enough time dealing with Wanda, and was not about to spend unknown amounts of time inefficiently searching the castle for her friend.

_Accio broom,_ she cast, hoping that her parents hadn't left yet. Her broom was with the rest of her belongings, in her parents' room in the Hogsmeade inn, waiting for them to take it home when they left tomorrow. She was not disappointed, though, for in a few minutes her broom came flying up from behind the trees. She didn't even wait for it to stop moving, but instead jumped on when it came close enough, and sent it soaring upwards again. _Next stop, the owlery_, she thought, gleefully. Her last-minute plan for finding Hermione was one worthy of her brothers or Harry, but knowing their plans, it would probably work, too.

She reached the owlery and skidded through one of the high windows, which were luckily built large enough for an owl to come in and out even carrying a large parcel. She came to a halt and whistled for Pigwidgeon, who was still here rather than in his cage with the rest of her things, because her mother had refused to sleep in the same room with him for even one night. He came fluttering down from his roost an instant later, and pecked Ginny affectionately on the hand.

"Want to go on an adventure tonight, Pig?" she asked. He chirped, with decidedly un-owl-like energy. "Oh crap, I forgot parchment," she exclaimed, when she realized she now had an owl but no letter to send. She dithered for a minute, unsure of what to do – was it worth the time to go get parchment and a quill, or was a letter even really necessary? – but a sudden brain wave saved her from having to decide. _You _are_ a witch, Ginny, use your magic!_ she chided herself, as she looked around for something to transfigure into parchment. In the end she settled on an end of brown paper which had probably fallen from someone's poorly-wrapped parcel.

She quickly transformed it into a length of parchment, and a discarded owl feather into a makeshift quill, and began to write. She finished quickly – writing came easier to her when she was saying what she meant, and she was finally sure that what she had to say would be well-received on the other end. And if it wasn't, then she would be very curious to hear Hermione's story behind tonight's events….

She tied the letter to Pigwidgeon's leg, and told him to deliver it to Hermione Granger. He fluttered in a small, frenetic circle, and then took off through one of the windows. With a deep breath, Ginny mounted her broom and took off after him, knowing she would have to fly very well and very fast, at night, to have a chance of keeping up with her owl. It would be worth it, though, if it succeeded in leading her to Hermione….

Clearing the roof of the owlery, she caught sight of a tiny shape dashing in a strange zig-zag pattern against the sky, and put on a burst of speed, determined not to lose sight of her unwitting guide.

-конец-

A/N - Oh noes, another cliffhanger! Truly, it is the only good way to end a chapter in my opinion...and I'll try and post the next chapter before December, but I give no gauruntees...finals time is coming up already! runs and hides Oh, right, and if you review I'll love you forever. Please do!

I have arms - Yay, I like making people sit on the edge of their seat! ...hopefully it was in a good way...

spencerandash4ever - and you're actually an awesome reader for having reviewed! I hope that I can update soon too; every day I do, but then life happens...arg... (ps do you watch South of Nowhere? is it a good show? people tell me it is)

odin jonothan - thanks for the review, here's your cookie! I did take a look at your fic, but I have way too many ideas of my own right now to even start thinking about other people's...hope your writer's block goes away though!

HPequalsgreatlit - I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I, for one, like angsty cliffhangers, but then again it's not so cliff-hanger-y for me because I already know what's going to happen...bwahahaha...so anyway, it's good to know that people for whom it is a real cliffhanger enjoy it too! lol

Richal - here you go! this story is ending, soon, just so you know...don't know how much more you had in mind, there...

Ginnys-lost-twin - Oh no, I didn't update soon! Did your face freeze in the depressed fishy shape? (I really hope not, that would place an awful burden of guilt on me for not updating sooner!!) That was probably one of the best reviews I ever got, just so you know...lol. I mean, come on, who bothers to do singing story reviews anymore?? It's a disgrace!

chibichoco - Thanks! I'm glad you think it's cool, it's good to know that what I'm trying to do is actually working!

Razor bladed heart - Thanks! Also, you get major points for having reviewed almost all the chapters! (chapter 2 doesn't really count because it got hardly any reviews anyway. whatevs!)

ogis - Merci mille fois, c'est vraiment gentil de ta part! and no, I could not, that ship is just too awesome to leave alone! again, you get awesomeness points for being the première à laisser un review for le chapitre: )


	6. Into the night

Disclaimer: I do not own this. Although that should be clear from the disclaimer on the first chapter! Ah well, guess I just like writing these.

Warnings: The most graphic chapter yet! Testing the limits of the 'T' rating! Kissing! Between girls! If this bothers you then don't read it! This is a sarcastic warning but if you're homophobic you should take it seriously anyway!

A/N: Ok, so I lied, this is NOT, in fact, the last chapter; it just kind of got away from me as I was writing it. I mean, I can see the end coming, but I have no idea how long it will take me to get to it. My least favorite thing is stories that just go on and on, pointlessly, long after they should have reached some sort of conclusion, so I am trying very hard to make this not one of those! Oh, and this is a super-duper long chapter, (it got away from me!) and I guess you could say it's kind of the 'pivotal' chapter, so that's why...anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read! Enjoy! Happy Holidays, whichever they may be for you!

6. Into the night

Hermione was surprised that she hadn't already worn a groove in the floor from all her restless pacing back and forth. She angrily kicked a throw pillow out of her path. Pacing didn't really help, but sitting still was unbearable when her thoughts were still racing around in her head like this. She knew she wouldn't get any rest until she stopped thinking about it, but at the same time she couldn't stop herself from trying to find the solution, the answer – she needed to know what she should do at this point, to make everything right again.

It was all Wanda's fault, but placing the blame on her ex didn't help matters at all. If only she hadn't burst in and attacked when she did – then what? Things had been going pretty well with Ginny, but Ginny hadn't even known she was with Hermione, so things could never have gone farther anyway. Hermione had been planning to end the Herman charade after this one night, of course, but she had never planned on it ending like this.

Ginny was bound to have an abysmal opinion of Herman now, and even though he wasn't a real person, and Ginny would never see him again, it still mattered somehow. Hermione still knew the truth about his identity, and she couldn't stand knowing that Ginny had a bad opinion of her, however indirectly. The fact that Ginny hadn't known it was her at the time, and never would know, didn't matter somehow. It was the principle of the thing.

But there was nothing she could really _do_ about it, nothing she could do to right the wrong. If she told Ginny, it would probably ruin their friendship, strained as it already was after their year apart. There was really no way she even could tell her – she could just picture how that would go: _Oh, Ginny, I really want to apologize for last night; I'm so sorry I ran away and abandoned you to my insane ex – oh, you didn't know that was me? What was I doing dressed up as a man, you ask?_ It was utterly impossible.

On the other hand, if she didn't tell her, then their friendship wouldn't suffer for it, but Hermione would still always know, and besides, Ginny really deserved an apology. Maybe Hermione could write to her as Herman and apologize that way? No, that would just make Herman seem even more pathetic, and Ginny might want to write back to him. Hermione was done being Herman once and for all; she wasn't about to carry on a faked correspondence with Ginny and make the situation even worse.

Hermione dropped to the floor under the open window and banged her head, ineffectively, on a nearby squashy armchair. This line of thought was taking her nowhere, but she couldn't think of anything else. If only Wanda hadn't shown up when she did…Hermione groaned out loud in frustration and banged her head against the arm of the chair again.

Wrapped up in her circular chain of thoughts, she almost missed the _tap, tap_ of an owl's beak on the window glass. She twisted up and craned her neck to see out the window, and was surprised to see Pigwidgeon, Ginny's owl, erratically hovering outside, with a roll of parchment fixed to his leg. Hermione reached up and unlatched the window to let him in before he dashed himself against the glass in his attempts to stay stationary in the air.

The tiny owl fluttered in and did a few quick circuits of the room before he consented to let Hermione untie the parchment from his leg. She had a bad feeling about this – why would Ginny be sending her a letter now? It must mean that she already knew…Hermione's stomach still further. She should have known that this plan was destined to go horribly wrong; she probably deserved whatever was coming to her, just for being so stupid in the first place.

_Or maybe Ginny could have sent the letter to Herman?_ Hermione reasoned, _and her owl just delivered it to me? _Owls did seem to have an uncanny ability to deliver letters to the right person, so it didn't seem too implausible that an owl could send a letter to someone under a false name. This line of reasoning was dashed, however, as soon as Hermione saw her own name written on the outside of the scroll, in Ginny's handwriting. Preparing herself for the worst, she unrolled the parchment and began reading.

_Dear Hermione, _

_I hope you're ok! I was so worried about you; I had to deal with Wanda first, but all I wanted to do was follow you right away. I'm coming over now though, we really need to talk. You probably think I'm mad at you, but don't worry, I'm not! (far from it, in fact.)_

_I __was__ kind of curious to see where that whole Herman thing was going to go, actually, though I guess it was kind of mean of me not to tell you when I figured it out…sorry!! I was having fun with it anyway, didn't think that time would be an issue – otherwise I wouldn't have wasted time playing along. Anyway, if you want to talk, and I hope you do, then could you just let me in? I'm outside…_

_Love, Ginny_

Hermione read the letter again and sunk to the floor, momentarily stunned. The endless chain of thoughts that had been circling in her head finally ground to a halt. Ginny knew, had known for quite a while apparently, and didn't hold it against her. On the contrary, she seemed to have been enjoying the game at least as much as Hermione had been. And she had signed it _love_…Not that that necessarily meant anything, Hermione quickly reminded herself. Friends did that all the time.

But what did she mean, she had "dealt with" Wanda? Hermione wasn't used to people being protective of her, but that's certainly what it felt like Ginny was doing; from her letter at least. People always trusted that Hermione could deal with things on her own, and that to treat her otherwise would be an insult to her intelligence. Far from feeling patronized by Ginny's apparent protectiveness, though, she felt…warm, somehow. Like she was something _worth_ the attention, someone not to be left alone to deal with things.

Hermione got to her feet and leaned out the window, looking down for Ginny. She was right; they certainly did need to talk.

"Oi! Hermione! Over here!" Ginny's voice came from the air right next to Hermione's head. She jumped, startled, almost hitting her head on the handle of Ginny's broom, which was hovering right next to the window with Ginny on it. She quickly backed away from the window to make room, and Ginny flew in and neatly jumped off her broom, skillfully avoiding crashing into any of the furniture.

"Hi!" she said breathlessly.

"Hi," said Hermione, a bit awkward. She became painfully aware of the distance between them. The last thing she wanted to be far from Ginny, but she didn't quite know what she should do to close the gap between them, or how she should start. Saying things in letters and saying them in person suddenly seemed to be two separate, wholly distinct things.

Ginny looked at her, and her expression changed to something not-quite-definable. "Come here, you," she said, opening her arms, and Hermione gratefully rushed toward them. Ginny started moving toward her too, so that they met somewhere in the middle. Ginny held onto her tightly, as though they had been separated for years rather than just an hour, although really, this was very close to the truth. Hermione had wrapped her arms around Ginny too, and was holding her as close to herself as was practically possible, just to feel the solidness of her body, the proof that she was really there. She let out a great breath that she didn't even realize she had been holding, and relaxed into the hug. She didn't think she would ever want to let go.

"Hey," Ginny said gently, lifting her head from Hermione's shoulder. She looked into Hermione's eyes for a long moment, and something shifted between them. Before, this might have passed for a simple hug between good friends, but now, this was…Hermione gave up trying to classify exactly what it was, in favor of paying attention to the moment as it happened. She found herself getting butterflies, despite all her reasoning to the contrary. Ginny had that _look_ in her eye, was she going to…?

Ginny reached out to tuck an invisible strand of hair behind Hermione's ear, but when Hermione involuntarily leaned in to her touch she dropped the pretext and turned it into a simple caress. Then she leaned in and brushed her lips across Hermione's, and one part of Hermione thought, _Oh - I was right, she _was_ going to!_, but then it was quiet, because Ginny had leant into the kiss a little more, and Hermione was paying full attention to kissing back. When Ginny stepped away, she smiled and pushed the strand of hair back behind Hermione's ear again, for it really had come out of place this time. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to be able to do that," she said fondly, without dropping her gaze.

"You have?" was all Hermione could think to reply. She was sure she was grinning like an idiot, and her thoughts were circling uncontrollably again, only now it was with a heady happiness, and the thoughts were more along the lines of, _She kissed me! Ginny, the girl I've been secretly in love with, forever, just kissed me! She…_

Ginny was grinning broadly too, her own head occupied by a similar train of thought. Hermione, the ever-unattainable, was in her arms, and she finally,_finally_, was allowed to kiss her, and hold her…She leaned in again with the intention of doing just that, but Hermione stopped her motion with a gentle pressure on the shoulders.

"Hang on," Hermione said, still grinning foolishly. She began to struggle with her dress robes. "Help me out of this thing?"

Ginny looked at her half quizzically, half teasingly, with one eyebrow raised. "Moving a bit fast already, aren't we?"

Hermione had the grace to blush, but did not stop her assault on the robes. "No, it's this stupid man-suit I've still got on. I can hardly feel anything through it, it's like wearing armor," while at the same time she was thinking, _She said a bit fast, _already_ – does that mean that she expects it to be a good time to move that fast, soon?_

Ginny didn't question this explanation for Hermione's sudden desire to disrobe, but just stepped forward and helped as requested; although perhaps with a bit more touching than was strictly necessary along the way. Working together, the two girls soon had the man-suit and the outer robes in a pile on the floor, next to where Hermione had discarded the false mustache earlier. Hermione was left wearing a camisole top and the brown dress pants only, and she saw Ginny give her an appreciative glance. Then they came together again, as though at some unspoken signal, and Hermione said, "Much better…"

She could now feel the contours of Ginny's form pressing against her, and her bare back felt smooth and cool against Hermione's now-robe-free arms. She took her time to explore that back, while Ginny leaned in for another kiss. Hermione made a small, contented sound as warm lips met her own. _This_ was the way things should be.

Some time later, the girls surfaced for air, in a rather more disheveled state then before. The glow from their first kiss had not yet dissipated. If anything it had grown stronger; for they had gone back to staring into each other's eyes with identical foolish grins on their faces. Ginny was still stroking Hermione's cheek with one hand, and Hermione reached up and covered it with her own. "You said, in your letter, that we needed to talk…"

"Oh, right, that…" said Ginny, smiling. They both looked around and realized that they were still standing in the middle of the room, not having moved very far since Ginny arrived. Hermione went around the room selecting a few of the larger pillows, and arranged them into a serviceable pile. The two girls sank down gratefully onto it, lacing their arms about one another again. When neither of them spoke first, Hermione broke the comfortable silence. "You first, you must have plenty of questions; and I certainly owe you the answers."

Ginny smiled and kissed Hermione again, lingeringly, enjoying their new position lying on the cushions. When she broke away, she nestled her head on Hermione's shoulder, so that when she spoke, the breath felt warm and ticklish against Hermione's neck. "Not as many as you might think. I managed to get some things out of Wanda before I cleared her out of here, so I have at least the general picture…"

Hermione shuddered involuntarily at the name, but nothing could really get to her through the golden haze of happiness that enveloped her right now. "Well, I'm sure it must be a totally accurate and unbiased general picture that leaves you with _no_ further questions, right?"

Ginny grinned and rolled her eyes. "Oh god, it was terrible! She made herself out to be the innocent victim, wronged by your irrational mind games. And she's such a bad liar too; it was rather painful to have to watch."

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes. "It sounds like you have some stories to tell me, too. But first, I should try to explain all this." She gestured vaguely to indicate all the circumstances leading up to their current position. "Well, I could just start at the beginning and tell you the whole thing, up until this moment, but that would take all night most likely."

Ginny looked eager. "Do, please! I feel like I'm missing a whole year of your life; and I don't like it. Besides, I can't imagine having survived that Wanda character for a year, and not needing to talk about it."

That was true enough. So Hermione began at the point where they had split ways the year before, and proceeded to tell Ginny everything that she had made herself leave out of her letters. The story was interrupted by much kissing and hair-stroking, and more kissing, and plenty of hand-holding when they weren't doing anything else, but eventually it all came out.

"Well, I went and got my parents from Australia, like I told you, and fixed everything up back home. It's scary how you can get used to not having parents; it was almost stranger having them back…anyway, after a month I had to leave for my internship in America that I set up with Professor McGonagall…well, you know about all that, you were there when I did it...

"The department I was in, in the American Ministry, was very small – there were only six of us, including me, and luckily we all got along famously. Two of the girls were actually lesbians, which really surprised me at first – I don't think anyone would be so open about that in the British Ministry! But anyway, we got to talking, and they found out that I was interested in girls too, so –"

"Wait, how long have you been interested in girls for?" Ginny interrupted. "During Hogwarts even? Because I was pretty certain that you weren't interested in anyone at all, be they man, woman, or centaur. And believe me, I spent more than my fair share of time thinking about it!"

Hermione smiled wistfully. "Well, some people are just less demonstrative of their interest, you know. Besides, I was still working it out for myself, so I wasn't about to go about proclaiming far and wide my burning desire to bed the nearest attractive man, or woman, or – centaur, or whatever, until I was totally sure of it for myself." They both doubled up with laughter at the terrible mental image conjured by this pronouncement, and had a hard time stopping; every time one of them would slow down, she would look at the other and they would both burst out laughing again harder than before. Eventually Hermione managed to catch her breath, and picked up her story where she had left off.

"Anyway, the girls at work decided to take me around to the clubs they knew about, to meet people, you know, and I agreed to go with them because – well, I was still thinking about you all the time, but I since I was sure that you would never want to be with me that way, I thought it best to just distract myself, meet other people maybe, and just get more comfortable with myself in general. I'm not exactly an expert at this dating thing, you know."

"You were trying to forget me?" said Ginny in a small voice, laughter momentarily forgotten. "Yeah," Hermione said, feeling the old, gnawing regret anew. "I had fallen for you pretty hard by that time, but I was so sure that you would never return my feelings…I thought I would be able to finally move on with my life, if I was in a new place."

"Oh," said Ginny, sounding bereft. "I mean, of course, you were doing what you thought best…"

Hermione squeezed her tighter. "No, I was really stupid about the whole thing. A normal person would have just asked you right out if you liked me, but no, I thought I had it all worked out on my own. I was so sure that you were only interested in men, and that any confession of my feelings would only make life harder for you – there would be nothing at all you could do about it, even if you tried to take it well. Unrequited love is hard enough when only the one person has to deal with it; to force it on someone else is just cruel. I was so sure that I was sparing you this way, and doing the best thing for both of us, even though it wasn't what I wanted…"

Hermione kissed her then for several minutes, hoping to express her regret in a way words could never quite match. "You have no idea how sorry I am…If only I hadn't been so sure of myself then…."

Ginny reached up and pulled her in for another kiss, stemming the flow of words.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hermione," said Ginny, when she had at last pulled away. "I mean, _I_ don't blame you - It's as much my fault as yours; I never gave you any reason to think I would be interested in you. You did the best you could, knowing what you knew..." It was Hermione who started the kiss this time, and it was a grateful one, that left them both smiling and slightly breathless.

"Now that that's all cleared up," said Ginny teasingly, but the undertones of deep affection showed through anyway, "you haven't gotten to the best part yet…When does Wanda come into this story?"

Hermione shook her head. "Ah, Wanda…" Somehow that whole dreadful episode of her life seemed like just a big joke, now, so full of human drama as to be rendered ridiculous. She felt so detached from it, here in Ginny's arms; and looking back on it, it seemed like it belonged to some other life.

"Well, she and I met the second or third time I went out with Melissa and Anna…my coworkers, you know, the ones who were the lesbians…Not lesbians_together_!" she said, when she saw Ginny's knowing look. "They just shared a flat together. Anyway, I met Wanda, and she just seemed like she knew what she was doing, I guess. I wasn't exactly attracted to her, but I had no idea what kind of person I_ was_ attracted to, if not you…

"So when she asked me to go out with her, I agreed; I figured that at the very least, it couldn't hurt." Ginny snorted, by Hermione forged on. "I thought I might learn something, and who knows whether I might become attracted to her more over time. So reasoned out!" Hermione shook her head. "But it wasn't just a harmless little fling; she assumed that we were a couple practically after the first date, and it just went downhill from there. I probably should have realized what a piece of work she was much sooner, but when I finally did, I broke up with her right away. That's when the real trouble started – she refused to admit that we weren't together anymore. I don't know why she even bothered; I must have been the most distant girlfriend anyone's ever had, what with me pining over you every waking hour, and all."

Ginny raised a teasing eyebrow, but let Hermione continue with her story.

"That's why I hardly wrote to you too, which I really felt bad about…I thought about you so much, I was afraid that if I communicated any more than at the bare minimum, the truth would inevitably slip out, and then everything would be ruined forever…"

Ginny's other eyebrow went up, and she said "'Everything ruined forever?' What do you take me for, a fairytale princess? I'm sure I would have been able to handle a little bit of angst from you, even if I_ hadn't_ felt the same way. Give me some credit here!" But she softened the harsh words with a playful shove at Hermione's side, which Hermione returned with an equally mischievous poke in the arm, to which of course Ginny had to retaliate. The battle ended in an all-out tickling war, and then, predictably, more kissing. This had to be the single most _physical _conversation that Hermione had ever had, without a doubt.

Hermione picked up her story where she had left it off, still giggling. "So I had broken up with her, but she just didn't give up. She would follow me around, and act like we were still together, even though I told her a million times that we weren't. I started asking around, after a few weeks of this, and apparently she's done the same exact thing to her last three exes. I heard rumors about her using the _Imperio_curse on one of them, after she refused to get back together out of her own free will, and that's when I started to get really worried. I had a friend in Magical Law Enforcement keep an eye out, and she sort of faded away after that. Stopped coming around my flat so often, didn't talk to me when we met in the street, et cetera. It stayed like that for a few months, and I started to let my guard down.

"I didn't date anyone after that though; it didn't seem worth the bother…and my friends always teased me about how often I would dance with redheads, anyway." She rolled her eyes and Ginny gave her hand a squeeze. "Wanda wasn't really gone though; I think she took my failure to obtain another girlfriend right away as a sign we were still together, despite every other sign to the contrary; and she started getting really suspicious when it came time time for me to leave for England. I think she got the idea that I was packing off to a foreign country to escape her clutches and have clandestine meetings with a secret lover, or something."

"Oh, and I wonder where she could have gotten that idea from!" said Ginny in tones of broad irony.

"Shh you! I didn't plan on meeting up with you clandestinely as my secret lover at the time, you know!"

Ginny propped herself up on one elbow to look at Hermione. "What _was_ your plan, then?"

Hermione sighed. This was the part of the story she was the least proud of, and the part that Ginny was never to have known. Ginny deserved the truth though, which was the least Hermione could do for her after – well, after everything that she had done. She steeled herself to divulge the truth, uncomfortable as it was. "Well, it was all rather ignoble and sneaky of me, and nothing I'm proud of," she said apologetically.

Ginny wasn't phased. "Well, it already happened, and I was there for most of it, remember? And you seemed perfectly chivalrous and gentlemanly at the time…ignoble is the last word that springs to mind." She batted her eyelashes ridiculously at Hermione, causing the other girl to laugh despite herself. "Sneaky, though, definitely does spring to mind. But in quite a good way. Do carry on!"

"All right, all right. So, to make a long story short, I devised a plan to spend a romantic evening with you, without you knowing it was me. I thought that it would help me get you out of my system, so that I could have a better chance at moving on this time. See, don't I sound like a terrible person? Taking advantage, just to get what I wanted…"

"Hermione," said Ginny, taking Hermione's chin in her hand and staring intently into her eyes. "Taking advantage is when you snatch a girl into a dark alley, overpower her, and have your way with her. I believe what you did in this case could be more accurately called 'showing me a good time.'" Ginny couldn't help but laugh at the look of outright incredulity on Hermione's face, but sobered up to reassure her further.

"Hermione, come on! What was so bad about what you did? You dressed up as a really weird guy and danced with me when no one else would have done anyway because I was being so sulky and antisocial, and took me for a romantic walk around the lake, and fed me magical champagne, and looked doe-eyes at me the whole time … it was wonderful! And all I had been expecting from tonight, really, was to talk with my friends some, get tipsy later just because we're allowed to now, dance with some boys I didn't fancy just because they asked, and then go to bed in the empty dorm, and probably spend an embarrassingly long time awake thinking about you, if I didn't fall asleep right away…In what way was dressing up as "Herman" and crashing my graduation bad compared to that?!"

Hermione grudgingly half-smiled, but still seemed distressed. She buried her face in the pillows and mumbled something that sounded like "but, selfish!" Ginny dragged her back up and started running her fingers slowly through her hair, looking at her earnestly.

"For someone who prides herself on her rationality, you're really not doing this issue justice at all. Haven't you ever heard about the ends justifying the means? I mean, if you hadn't done all this, disguised yourself and all…well then we wouldn't be here, would we? Together? That makes it worth it for me." She looked searchingly in Hermione's eyes.

Hermione allowed herself to smile. "Yeah, you're right. It's just this is not what I planned on happening; the whole point was for you never to find out…My original goals were totally ignoble, and all kinds of selfish, and I never in a thousand years guessed that we'd end up together because of it…"

Ginny broke into a wide, sunny, heartbreakingly beautiful smile, and slid her fingers into Hermione's hair. Hermione sighed as she felt the tickle of Ginny's fingers against her scalp, and smiled herself. Who would have thought that she and Ginny would end up together? A part of herself still had trouble believing it was true; how _could_ it be true? She had certainly wished for something like this to happen, but knew that it was not possible. Wishing for something never really makes it come true, no matter how hard you wish. But a bigger part of her knew that they were undeniably here now, together – there was Ginny, solid and real, right there in front of her. And oh god, she was twining her hands through Hermione's hair, and her eyes had become bright with passion, and she was pulling Hermione closer toward them, and she felt herself being swept away.

"Oh, Ginny –" she managed to gasp out, in a tone that was grateful and imploring at the same time. Then Ginny's lips were on hers, and talking became superfluous. She lost track of whose hands were where, and whether she was next to Ginny or leaning over her or being pressed under her weight. A wave of shivering heat passed through her, and she could tell that Ginny felt it too by the way she breathed out loud and moved within Hermione's arms, and pulled her closer. Hermione wasn't aware of which of them took her shirt off, but something had apparently happened to the top of Ginny's dress robes by that time, because she was certainly aware of the shock of skin on her chest, warm and smooth and _Ginny_, so close. And then Ginny took Hermione's lips in a searching kiss that went on and on, running her hands over Hermione's body as though to assure herself that it was really there.

It felt like something had solidified between them, at last, but Hermione was never one to trust a simple feeling, untested. "So do you –" Hermione started, but Ginny laid a finger on her lips.

"Shh, enough with talking! We already had plenty enough of that before." She let her finger trace Hermione's lips, and hummed contentedly. "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "No, you never did -" Ginny bent and left a trail of kisses along Hermione's collarbone, making Hermione shiver. "But do feel free to, now, if you like," she managed to say before Ginny captured her lips again. Well, maybe she didn't have to analyze every feeling to death. There was a time for talking, and then there was the time for just lying back and feeling.

-fin-

A/N - Hi, remember me? After reading all that, do you remember anything? I'm just coming back to tell you: from now on my new policy on reviews is just to respond to everyone individually, because while I like putting them all down at the end of the chapter like this, it's starting to take up too much space! eep! This will be the last time you see review replies on the bottom of my story, ever, ever. (and I'm not lying this time. ) Also, I have more than 4000 hits on this story now, which is way cool...just thought I'd share that...so, a big thanks to everyone who's reading this, you're all great and I love you all! tehe : )

**cat:** thanks for the review! yay...

**s3xy-Lady:** ah sorry! I know there's really nothing that can make up for a late update, but hopefully the extra-longness of this chapter does something to help!

**LuckyStar25:** Yay thanks! I love it when people think my stuff is funny : D

**ChrisGranger:** ooo, I'm glad you like it! I'm pretty sure the owl thing must have been done before, and there's probably a simpler way to magically find someone, but I just thought it was cool. Also it fit in, because that was the action-y chapter. Thanks for the review!

**Hermana:** hola. ti habla espanol? yo no habla espanol. un poco? no se! es feliz que esta decembro, y no juanveres! yo amo ton pseudo...lol XD

**mn:** Oh no! Why are you crying! This is the most cryptic review of all time; I feel moved to make it better for you, but I don't know how...alas!

**roadpie:** thanks for the encouragement, lol. it's good to know that the dedicated readers will keep reading, no matter what!

**cloogle:** hehe, thanks! I don't usually write stuff like that, so I'm glad you thought it turned out well!

**Vampslayer08: **yaaaay you're still reading, which is really cool! (and reviewing, too, aren't I the lucky author?!) Sorry I didn't update sooner, finals struck! (but I survived lol)

**ogis: **hi! I told you it was practically Hermione's life story, didn't I? shakes head But at least there was plenty of snogging to balance it out, hehe!

**chibichoco:** I have indeed seen all the things related to squid! They are a sinister creature, for sure! Jet-powered animals with beaks and prehensile tentacles...gah! (now we know why Wanda was so scared!) Thanks again for all the reviews, they make me tres happy: )

**spenceandash4ever:** Well, now there's going to be more chapters, so it doesn't suck quite yet...I have not actually ever seen SON, just clips of it on youtube. It looks good, indeed, but I kind of don't have a tv :P Alas! More time for writing then...

**rhea:** thanks! I hope you still think it's great, past chapter 3 : )

So yeah...those are the last public replies ever...so if you're anonymous without an email address, watch out!

...reveiw?


	7. Rhythm of the Night

A/N: This picks up right where the last chapter left off. No more of that pesky time-difference, flashback stuff now. This shall henceforth be told as a _linear_ story.

Warnings (for this chapter): Yeah, more kissing and stuff, some naughty dancing...nothing that that graphic, still...

7. Rhythm of the night

Ginny looked down at the beautiful girl lying next to her, and felt that she had just been given the best present of her life. To have liked Hermione for so long, knowing that the possibility of ever getting together with her was so unlikely as to be nonexistent, and then to have her practically thrust upon her as though by the fates in one night, boggled the mind. It had happened so fast that it was hard to believe – she had hardly heard from Hermione for a year, and then, with no warning, she was suddenly there, and now she was _here_. It seemed almost like cheating; she hadn't even begun to try to go after Hermione; hadn't really done anything to make this happen. It was like catching the Snitch five minutes into the final game of the season by a freak accident, before you even started looking for it – you don't believe right away that it's really happened, that you spent so much time imagining this moment, and then all of a sudden, between one breath and the next, that moment arrives. It always took some time to adjust to such a sudden shift of realities, Ginny knew, but she suspected that this was one surprise she wouldn't mind getting used to at all.

As happy as she would be to stay here all night and work on snogging Hermione senseless – she suspected she was more than halfway there already – she also wanted to get up and _do_ something. It wasn't possible to be this filled with exhilaration, and not give the all that energy somewhere to go.

"Hey," she said to Hermione, eyes sparkling. "Want to dance?"

Hermione still looked rather sleepy and dazed, which Ginny decided was a dangerously sexy look on her. "I – What? Dancing?"

"With me, downstairs," Ginny clarified, as she got up from their cushions to look for Hermione's top. "I think if I stay still any longer, I might explode, or something. Please?" She batted her eyelashes again and Hermione had to laugh.

"I never said I didn't want to – stop that, you're being too cute!"

"And what's wrong with me being cute, praytell?"

"It's just –" Hermione gave up and pulled Ginny back down onto the cushions, where she pinned her down and proceeded to kiss her quite passionately. Some minutes later, when they had slowed down, Ginny reached for her wand and cast _Tempus_.

"Oh look, it's only 1:13!" she said gleefully. "If we go down to the Great Hall now, the band will still be playing!"

"It's 1:13 in the morning, and the band is _still_ here, and you _still_ want to dance?" asked Hermione incredulously.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "They're here until 2:00, but if we don't hurry, they'll be finishing up by the time we get down there, and everyone will be gone, and it will be boring, and we'll have no time to dance!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine then, let's go," she agreed; as if she had ever seriously planned on disagreeing in the first place. "Where's my shirt?"

She took the gleefully proffered top, and helped Ginny to fasten her robes up again, which had somehow come undone and fallen around her waist while they were making out earlier. Ginny was practically bouncing up and down near the trap door, ready to go, but Hermione insisted on checking around the room to make sure that they left it in the same condition it had been in before.

"Ginny, I'm sure that Trelawney would recognize this as a scene of recent debauchery if we don't clean it up! And no, not because she has the_ Sight_," Hermione said, rolling her eyes again. Ginny joined her and together they made quick work of arranging the cushions back to where they had been, and Hermione banished her discarded disguise away to her room at the inn in Hogsmeade. Then she came upon Ginny's broom, still leaning up against the wall where Ginny had left it when she came in.

"Uh, Ginny? What are we supposed to do with this? It would look awfully suspicious walking through the halls with a broom – we're not even supposed to be up here in the first place. But we can't just leave it here, someone will find it," Hermione said, anxiously.

Ginny came over from where she had been straightening the rug, and gave Hermione her most devilish smile. "Well, it looks like there's only one solution, then, isn't there?"

Hermione glanced between the broom and the open window, and gulped. "No, you can't be serious…"

But Ginny had been serious, in fact, and they flew together down to the entrance of the castle with no problems. Well, aside from the fact that a few of Ginny's ribs may have been injured by Hermione's death-grip embrace during the whole ride, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Once there, however, Hermione looked hesitant again.

"Um, Ginny?" She was eying the broom with a more-than-warranted concern, Ginny thought, especially given that no one was asking her to fly again.

"Yeah?"

"Look, the broom is just as big a problem now as before; we still have no place to put it. Were did you get it from, originally?"

Ginny shook her head; knowing where she had gotten it from wouldn't help them now. "I summoned it from the pile of my stuff in my parents' room in Hogsmeade."

"Oh." Hermione looked momentarily stumped. Ginny could banish it back to the room where she had summoned it from, but this was hardly a good solution. Banishing was never a precise procedure, and the broom was as likely to land back with the rest of Ginny's stuff as to end up anywhere else in the room - such as in bed with her parents, perhaps, or somewhere that involved breaking windows or worse.

Hermione thought for a moment longer, and then her eyes lit up again. "I know where we can put it! If it's alright with you, that is, I mean, it's just an idea, and it's entirely up to you -"

Ginny placed a hand on Hermione's arm. "What's your idea, Hermione?"

Hermione blushed delicately. "Well, I rented a room in Hogsmeade for tonight – I didn't know how long this would last, and I didn't want to risk splinching myself if I tried to apparate home tired; it is pretty far –" Ginny kept smiling, amused, and waited for Hermione to get to the point. "And well, you could come with me if you wanted to; I mean, if it's any better than where you were planning on sleeping. Where do you graduates sleep, anyway?"

"In the dorms," said Ginny, choosing to answer the last question first. "They didn't do it last year because the castle was still being repaired, but usually they have us sleep here one more night, serve a late "post-graduation breakfast," and then we can move out at a sane pace, instead of trying to do that graduation day too, on top of everything else. Besides, I think they don't want anyone drunk-splinching themselves, which has apparantly happened before to people leaving the castle on graduation night. And yes, I would _love_ to go back with you. All my stuff's packed up already; and I definitely wasn't looking forward to spending the night in an empty dorm."

"Oh good," said Hermione. "I was hoping you'd say that!" She gathered Ginny in for a kiss, smiling.

"And we can put your broom in my room at the Inn," said Hermione, as though remembering the original point she had been trying to get at. "It'll work fine to just Banish it there, I feel like I've been doing that to pieces of my disguise all night. There's nothing really breakable in there, anyway."

Ginny smiled and did the honors on her broom with a flick of her wand, and then grabbed Hermione's hand.

"Ready?" she asked, gesturing to the open doors of Hogwarts and bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. Hermione found it entirely believable that Ginny might have exploded if made to stay still, as she had said.

"You are entirely too peppy for this late at night," Hermione grumbled good-naturedly, but let Ginny lead her toward the Great Hall anyway.

"And you must be getting old, to think this is late!" said Ginny with a wink, pulling Hermione by the wrist through the doors, into the hall where loud music was playing. She thought she heard Hermione say something like, "You wouldn't feel so awake right now either if you had woken up as early as I did!" but by this time they had already entered the crush of dancers – apparently none of the students had gone yet after all – and her voice was drowned out in the noise.

Ginny pulled Hermione around so they were facing each other, and draped her arms around her waist. She began to move to the music, which was something with a compelling bass beat, and to her surprise, Hermione unhesitatingly did likewise. "American clubs," she mouthed with a grin when Ginny looked up. So that must have been where she got the practice; Ginny was almost sure she hadn't been this good a dancer during their years at Hogwarts. Proficient, maybe, and certainly better than her brother and Harry, but this – this was brilliant.

Ginny gave up trying to lead and backed off a bit to give Hermione room to dance, which she was already doing, expertly. Soon, Ginny gave up trying to dance altogether, in favor of watching Hermione. It was mesmerizing. Ginny wouldn't have thought it possible to go from Hermione's proficient and no-nonsense waltzing at the Yule ball, or even a few hours earlier, come to think of it; to this – this smoky waving of hips and rhythmic twining of arms.

Ginny would have been happy to stay like this all night, entranced, but then Hermione looked up at her through her lashes and beckoned her closer, inviting her into the dance. Ginny compliantly stepped closer, lacing her fingers together with Hermione's own insistently beckoning ones, and soon the two of them were moving to the music like one; coming apart and reforming again, intertwining and pulsating like two candle flames placed close together.

Several songs later, Ginny was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and feeling more confident than ever. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised that Hermione had learned to dance so well so fast, if her teacher had been anything like Ginny's own...

She leaned closer to speak into Hermione's ear, savoring the sensation of the curves of skin brushing her lips. "Hermione, how do you feel about coming out to the school?"

It was Hermione's turn to bend her head and touch her lips to Ginny's ear. "Coming out? As in out of the closet? Why?"

"Because, your hand is on my ass," Ginny said.

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down to where her hand was firmly planted on Ginny's ass, guiding the motion of her hips to match her own. "So it is. I don't think anyone has noticed, though," she said, grinning. She pointed with her chin toward the center of the dance floor, where a large circle of people surrounded two wizards dancing, who they were avidly watching. It looked like Harry, and…_Draco Malfoy??_ They were dancing back-to-front, very close, grinding shamelessly against each other with looks of dazed concentration on their faces.

Ginny whistled under her breath. "Talk about coming out!" she said, appreciatively. She narrowed her eyes at Hermione, who had a smug look on her face. "You knew, didn't you!"

Hermione just shrugged noncommittally. "I might have seen them together earlier."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but couldn't help from grinning back. "Well, at least now I know that if I ever have a secret, you'll be the one to take it to the grave!" Hermione smiled wider, and Ginny glanced over again to the melded forms of Harry and Malfoy gyrating amid the crowd of onlookers.

"Well, if no one's paying attention to us anyway, then we could just take a leaf from their book." She trailed her arm down Hermione's side suggestively. Hermione breathed something hot and unintelligible into Ginny's ear that sounded like "Indeed," and Ginny needed no further encouragement. She guided Hermione's hips sideways and their bodies slid together until they were flush against one another. Ginny could feel Hermione's leg pressed between her own, and gave an experimental roll of her hips. Hermione responded by pressing her leg harder against Ginny, who involuntarily ground again on it. Soon they had found a new rhythm, and were moving expertly to the beat again.

Ginny continued to look into Hermione's eyes, and felt a flush creep up her cheeks when they started to flutter shut, knowing that she was the cause. Her world narrowed down to the girl in front of her, the friction between them, and the beat of the music. For this reason, perhaps, it was all the more startling when suddenly, Hermione was yanked out of Ginny's arms, and went flying across the floor away from her. Ginny stumbled a step before she caught herself. Her eyes flashed around the room, finally landing on a pair of bobbing red heads, between whom stood a furiously gesticulating and very cross-looking Hermione Granger.

Ginny marched over the few paces to her brothers, taking advantage of the path between dancers that Hermione's swift passage across the floor had cleared, and proceeded to add her voice to Hermione's. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

"Oh, hi, Ginny," said George jovially. "Enjoying yourself?"

Ginny just glared at them and waited for someone to answer her question.

"We were just talking to Hermione here," he said conversationally. "Asking her the same question, as a matter of fact. Oh, and about where she put our stuff, which she is clearly not wearing anymore. Weren't we, Fred?"

"Oh, yes," said Fred, in the same joking tone. "But maybe it's possible to enjoy oneself a little_ too _much, eh? Know what I mean?" He leered exaggeratedly in Hermione's face.

"Actually, I don't know what you mean," she said sounding extremely cross. "Ginny and I were just dancing; there's no need to come in and – well, and interrupt like that!"

Ginny approached Fred before he had a chance to reply, and, eyes snapping, shoved him away from Hermione, who he was still crowding rather menacingly. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean, Fred," she said darkly, giving him another shove. "and George," she said, shooting the other twin a dark glare to let him know he was not off the hook. "We were enjoying ourselves _too much_ by your standards, weren't we, and you thought it necessary to come in and preserve my honor, or something like that, before things got out of hand!"

She reached for Hermione's hand and pulled her possessively to her side, eyes still flashing between her two brothers. "Well, I assure you, no such care is necessary! I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions, and I won't be treated like a little girl!"

"But Ginny, if you think –"

She swung her gaze to hit George, who had just spoken, and he fell silent of his own accord. "And I'll remind you, since you clearly would not remember on your own, that I am a full year older than the both of you were when you left Hogwarts!" She glared between them some more, hoping to drive the point home by force of will alone. She had lived with this lot for a good seventeen years, and she had learned that if you want to get your own way, you have to be damn sure that you look like you mean business.

"All right, sorry Gin, you know it was just a bit of a lark," said Fred, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. No one liked being on the receiving end of the Weasley death-glare, which Ginny had copied from their mother from an early age. She liked to think that she had improved upon it, even, or at least that it looked more fearsome on her face than her mother's. Fred nodded along, clearly expecting his twin's apology to cover the both of them.

Ginny knew that this was all she could reasonably expect, so she turned to Hermione and laced her arm around the other girl's waist. "Come on, Hermione, let's go find somewhere_ else _to dance."

Hermione nodded, but held up a hand. She turned back to Fred and George, who had dropped their twin cowed, apologetic looks the moment the girls had turned their backs. It had apparently taken them less than thirty seconds to forget about the whole incident and start looking around for new dance partners, or maybe some other sibling to torment. "Thanks for giving me the stuff, by the way; it worked out _very_ well," said Hermione in a sugary tone. "I'll come around the shop to bring it back tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, you're welcome," said George, looking stricken and not at all happy for the reminder that he and his twin had been the indirect cause of what they had just tried to stop.

Hermione fell onto Ginny, giggling, and the two went away across the dance floor in each other's arms, laughing helplessly.

"I think they just can't stand the thought that their little sister's getting more action than them!" said Ginny, as she started dancing again.

"And that it's more or less their own fault," added Hermione, grinning. "They certainly thought it was a good idea when they gave me the disguise this morning, but they obviously hadn't thought out all the implications…"

"Or more likely, they didn't trust anyone but themselves to pull off properly. They probably expected you to fail; I bet they've been waiting for the show all evening."

"Well, then, they underestimated the utter fantasticness of their little sister!" said Hermione, nuzzling Ginny's neck. Ginny hummed appreciatively and wrapped her arms around the other girl, drawing her closer.

"Now where were we?" she asked in a low voice against Hermione's ear. The girls fell back into the rhythm easily, as if they hadn't been interrupted in the first place. "I do owe Fred and George a thank-you," said Ginny into Hermione's ear again. "When they're through acting like right prats. Otherwise I wouldn't have you here right now, would I?" Hermione just nuzzled into her neck again, and Ginny was glad to stop talking and let everything besides the two of them, here, now, just fall away.

After a few more songs – Ginny wasn't exactly keeping count – she felt Hermione stiffen and stop dancing.

"What is it?" she asked, seeking out her girlfriend's eyes.

"I think it's time to go back, now," said Hermione. "To the inn…"

Ginny squinted at her, trying to make out her face better amid the flashing lights. This was a pretty abrupt change, and didn't seem exactly like Hermione.

"With me, right?" Ginny asked, wanting to make sure that Hermione wasn't having second thoughts about spending the night together.

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Hermione vaguely, without really looking at Ginny. Ginny's brow furrowed. Something was _definitely_ up.

Hermione started off in the direction of the entrance without saying anything else, and Ginny followed close behind, not bothering to apologize to the couples she shouldered aside to keep up with Hermione.

Just then, the lights came up and the band stopped playing, snapping the rest of the students out of their reverie. Ginny glanced around at the now-lighted room, but saw nothing that could explain Hermione's strange behavior. The ceiling had already reverted to its usual reflection of the sky, as though it were relieved to give up its impersonation of a discotheque as soon as possible. All around her couples were breaking up and drifting toward the fireplace in the entrance hall, which had been set up to floo visitors home for the night.

That appeared to be where Hermione was headed too, and Ginny pushed through the crowd to arrive at her side.

"Hermione, what's up?" she asked, putting a concerned hand on Hermione's arm.

Hermione didn't shake off her hand, but didn't respond either. Ginny's mind was racing. She could come up with a few possible explanations, the most likely of which was also the most unpleasant. She kept close eye on Hermione as they stood in line, and saw nothing that didn't confirm her original guess. _Shit_.

As expected, Hermione paid no attention to Ginny when the finally reached their turn to use the fireplace, but simply stepped into the green flames and stated her destination, and whirled away. Ginny pushed past the wizard who was trying to take her turn at the fireplace – if he had assumed from Hermione's actions that the two of them weren't traveling together, then he was wrong – and, grabbing her own handful of powder, stepped into the hearth and intoned the same destination that Hermione had said a moment earlier.

She was disgorged, still spinning, in the parlor of an inn that was presumably in Hogsmeade, although it was one she had never seen the inside of, and instantly reached for her wand. She drew her wand, but pressed her hand close to her side, where hand and wand alike were hidden in the full folds of her dress robes. She nodded to the sleepy-looking innkeeper, who sat behind a desk on the other side of the room, and then quickly mounted the stairs that she assumed led to the inn's rooms, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she paused and looked down both directions of the long hallway, trying to catch sight of Hermione. She had followed her through the floo a matter of moments after Hermione had left, so she shouldn't be that far ahead. And yes, there she was – Ginny spotted what was unmistakably her girlfriend's back, retreating down the left branch of the hallway. She didn't seem to be in any big hurry to get where she was going, but was still walking purposely.

Ginny rushed to catch up, but kept to the side of the corridor, and tried to keep as quiet as possible. She could feel her unease crackling around her like a tangible force, and stealth seemed like a very good idea right now. She managed to sneak up right behind Hermione without drawing any attention whatsoever to herself, so when the older girl abruptly halted at the second-to-last door in the corridor, and opened it, Ginny was in the perfect position to see over her shoulder . What Ginny saw there almost made her gasp, although she stifled it just in time.

Sitting on the bed in Hermione's room, looking smug, as though she had been expecting her, sat none other than Wanda. Ginny only got a glimpse of her before Hermione stepped into the room, blocking the bed and its occupant from sight, but she was sure of who she had seen. Wanda,who Ginny had taken such great effort to expel from the grounds only a few hours earlier. _Shit._ Well, Ginny should have known that that wouldn't be enough stop her. Readjusting her grip on her concealed wand, she slipped into the room through the door that Hermione had left ajar, and prepared herself to finish the job the right way this time.

-fin-

Oooo, wonder whatever could be wrong with Hermione? Next chapter will tell, and it is also incidentally the last chapter. (For real this time. I swear!) Reviews are more than welcome! (translation: I am an utter review hog who would stop at nothing to get feedback!) Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, you guys are lovely!


	8. Pillow Talk

A/N: This is it! The last chapter...it's a bit shorter, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Writing that last part made me yawn so many times, I couldn't count. But I do now have a large body of evidence supporting the hypothesis that yes, fictional yawns are contageous too. (Don't say I didn't warn you!) Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this all along, for being so patient with me (five months? five??) and giving me the encouragement to keep going! I probably wouldn't have kept writing it without you : )

Warnings: Excessive cuteness; yawning; girls fighting. Oh, and there's more kissing. If you can't handle it...begone!

8. Pillow Talk

Hermione turned the knob and stepped into the room. Her eyes made a lazy circuit of the room, acclimating to the change in light from the hall, and taking in her surroundings piece by piece. This was her room – she knew she had rented it, earlier that day – but she couldn't seem to comprehend it as a more than a disparate set of impressions, which refused resolve into a room, as a whole. Her eyes swung around to the bed, and were drawn as though to a magnet to the woman sitting there, lazily twirling her wand in one hand and smiling, catlike, at Hermione. Hermione smiled back.

She was not at all surprised to see her girlfriend there, waiting for her. One part of her mind wanted to mention something about this being the wrong place for Wanda to be, and another part seemed to want to object to the label of "girlfriend", but these were easy to ignore. Hermione felt the presence behind her back that had followed her down the corridor press a little closer into her personal space, but her curiosity at that was easy to ignore, too. In fact, she hardly felt any.

"Hello, Hermione." Wanda smiled slightly.

Hermione took a step toward the bed. That _voice_. There was just something about it…

A rustle at her back was all the warning she got before a shape hurtled past her toward the bed, crying "_Expelliarmus_!" Wanda's wand went flying through the air in a graceful arc, and the second that the wand left her hand, it was like a veil had been torn down in Hermione's head. Instantly, the scene before her snapped into crystal clarity. Ginny – that must have been whose presence she felt – was standing between her and her ex, wand drawn, and Wanda was staring after her wand, in shock.

This only lasted a moment, though, for she spat an insult at Ginny and darted toward the bureau behind which her wand had fallen. Ginny _growled_, and dove after her, resulting in a violent scuffle on the floor before the bureau, arms and legs flying in every direction as each woman tried to grab the fallen wand and prevent the other from doing so at the same time.

Hermione rushed over and drew her own wand, thanking the gods that Wanda had not seen it necessary to disarm her before she pulled her little trick. She arrived just in time to kick the fallen wand away from a grasping hand (she couldn't tell whose), but not in time to stop Wanda from giving Ginny's hair a vicious pull, or to stop Ginny from landing an ill-aimed but powerful punch on the other witch's cheek. Hoping for the best, Hermione pointed her wand into the fray, and cried "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

Through sheer luck, her spell hit its intended target, and the American witch froze, on her back, limbs locked into an absurd position. Ginny quickly scrambled to her feet, and leveled her wand at the petrified woman.

"You – you _dared_! And after I warned you, and gave you a fair chance to just go away and leave us in peace!" Her face contorted with rage. "I _told_ you you would regret it if you ever tried anything again, and now –"

Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm. She appreciated Ginny's anger on her behalf, but she was getting _scary_. "Ginny." She pulled Ginny closer and wrapped her arms around her from behind. The other girl was coiled as tightly as a spring.

"Ginny." Hermione spoke her name again, and could feel her relax by a degree. "She's not worth it. We can bring her in to Magical Law Enforcement; they can handle her much better than we can at this point. She broke the law; this is the Aurors' jobs now, not ours. The important thing was that we stopped her before she had a chance to do any real harm."

Ginny sagged back into Hermione's arms. "You're right," she sighed. "You're right. There's nothing more I can do now, or you…I just got so _mad_ at her, for hurting you like that…and then trying again; it's just –" She took several deep breaths to calm herself down, and Hermione began rubbing small circles in her back, which seemed to help.

"I know. And thank you. There's a time for being mad, and if you hadn't gotten angry and attacked her when you did, I would probably still be under the Imperius, doing god knows what…"

She pulled Ginny around and kissed her, slowly and meaningfully, and Ginny returned the kiss with a heartbreaking tenderness that spoke deeply about how much she had been afraid for Hermione. When they broke apart, the last lines of tension were gone from Ginny's shoulders, and she was starting to smile.

"So, what're we going to do about this?" Ginny prodded Wanda's petrified body with a toe, causing it to rock back and forth rather pathetically.

Hermione's brow furrowed. "Technically, we're required to bring her into the ministry as soon as we get the chance." Ginny waited, sensing that there was a _but_ to this. "But they'll make us file a report, which could take hours, and I really don't feel like spending the rest of the night in the Ministry…"

"Good. I'm tired, too; let's not do that." Hermione didn't look quite convinced, but Ginny went on. "I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let her ruin any more of my night. Tomorrow morning _will_ be at our soonest possible convenience."

Hermione's fragile inclination to follow the rules in this case caved. "Right. And if they ask, we'll just say that we were too tired to trust ourselves to travel safely, and we needed to recover from the fight..."

"Exactly," Ginny crooned, "Now you're talking reason." She looked down at the body on the floor distastefully. "Which still leaves us with the problem of what to do with her until then."

"Oh, that's not a problem," said Hermione, "I'll just –"

And she broke away from Ginny's side and did several complicated things with her wand at once. The result was that their prisoner was now sitting tied to a Transfigured chair, blindfolded, and isolated safely behind several layers of crackling wards.

"I put a sleep charm on her, too," said Hermione, which explained why the woman's jaw was hanging slack, a trail of drool already forming. "It's for our privacy, more than anything!" she was quick to add, as though sensing Ginny's objection that even this measure was providing more comfort than their prisoner deserved. Ginny said nothing though, only turned and planted a searching kiss on Hermione's mouth.

"That was _brilliant_ spellwork," she murmured, seductively.

"Mmmmm, thank you."

"That was some of the best, quickest, smoothest casting I have _ever seen_."

"As well it should be," Hermione crooned.

"I am _impressed_."

"I think I can tell..."

Hermione was the first one to break down into giggles, followed by Ginny, and once they started, they had a hard time stopping. "Oh man, I think I need some sleep. My brain must be about to shut down from exhaustion."

Ginny collapsed back on the bed and echoed the sentiment. Then she sat back up again. "You are alright, though, otherwise? She must have had you under the Imperius for hours."

Hermione joined Ginny on the bed. "Yeah, she must have cast it on me back by the lake, but it was lying dormant most of that time; I definitely remember the point where she started controlling me with it. Everything got fuzzy, all of a sudden. She's really good at it too; I didn't even hear a voice telling me what to do…I just suddenly had the urge to come here, and I forgot everything else. I even thought that she was my girlfriend, when I saw her here…" She shuddered.

Next to her, Ginny growled under her breath. "Are you _sure_ I can't hex her?"

"Don't worry, the ministry will lock her up for a good long time. They don't like people running around, using unforgivables…and if I can prove that she's done it before, which she has to have done - she was just too practiced - then who knows if she'll ever get out." Hermione yawned widely. "What do you say to going to sleep now?"

"I say that sounds fantastic, but I want a shower first…"

"Oh, good idea…" Hermione yawned again.

They took turns in the adjoining shower, which was hot enough but had disappointingly low water pressure. When Ginny, who had gone last, emerged from the bathroom, she crawled into bed next to Hermione, who was reading a book.

Hermione put her book down and smiled at Ginny, then raised her eyebrows. "What are you _wearing_?"

"Oh, I made some pajamas out of the extra towel; didn't bring any of my own…why?"

"It's just – did you intend for them to be terrycloth, still?"

"No, I was trying for flannel, but I'm too tired to focus properly…"

"Want me to fix that?" Hermione reached for her wand on the bedside table.

Ginny nodded. She supposed that she should be more nervous than she was about having her pajamas transfigured while she was wearing them, but this was Hermione.

Hermione propped herself up on one elbow and performed a complicated series of flicks with her wand. "That ok?"

"Wow. You – wow. Yes, this is totally ok." Ginny was now clad in a set of rich satin pajamas, which were a deep red with burgundy trim. She snuggled down experimentally, feeling their coo, heavy smoothness against her skin, and confirming her first impression that this was indeed the most comfortable and luxurious thing she had ever worn. She wondered if Hermione had even done this before, or if she had just made up the spell on the spot.

"I think I want to keep this; it's the best set of pajamas I've ever owned. Thanks, Hermione." She grinned.

Hermione was looking quite pleased with herself. "Well, just think of it as your present…I did get you something, but I don't have it with me…I was going to owl it to you tomorrow. It sucks anyway; so if you like these…"

"I _love _these. It's the perfect present, really; I can't think of anything I'd like more."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow.

"Or maybe I can think of _one_ other thing," she said, looking into Hermione's eyes. It was so easy to get lost in them…

Hermione smiled, as though to say _That's what I thought_, and leaned in to kiss her, one hand cupping her face and wandering up to run through her hair. Ginny sighed in pleasure and gave herself over to the sensations – rich fabric caressing her body, Hermione's hand caressing her hair and scalp, Hermione's warm lips against hers…

She sighed again when Hermione deepened the kiss. This – everything – was just perfect.

When they parted, Hermione did not move away, but stayed where she was, wrapped around Ginny. It just felt so good to have someone to hold like this, after so long.

Ginny seemed to be reading her thoughts, for the next thing she said was, with a contented sigh. "You have no idea how long I've waited for something like this…"

"No, I really don't," said Hermione, realizing how little she really did know about her friend when it came to Ginny's feelings for her. Until this evening, she had never even suspected that they existed, which just went to show how observant she was…

Ginny took Hermione's hand and laced her fingers through it, watching their motion avidly. "Well, I've liked you pretty much as long as I've known you…" She slowly traced her fingernails up the inside of Hermione's fingers, until their hands were splayed flat against one another. "Look, they're the same size," she noted, of their hands.

"Not quite," said Hermione, and demonstrated that she could bend her fingertips over Ginny's, slightly.

Their hands danced silently for a time, while neither girl spoke.

"But what about Harry?" Hermione started, after a comfortable pause.

"Oh, Harry…I think that I fell out of love with him the moment I met you, only I didn't realize it right away. It took me the longest time to realize it…I should have, third year, with you and Krum…it just made me so angry, for some reason, to think of the two of you together. But I told myself that I was just jealous of you, that you had managed to snag a famous Quidditch star boyfriend without even trying, and I had no one."

Hermione laughed dryly. "Viktor was…not enviable, as boyfriend material. You could have had him, honestly."

Ginny giggled, but continued with her story. "By the end of fourth year, I guess I knew…it just sort of snuck up on me. But I didn't think there was anything I could do about it, I mean, first of all you didn't seem interested, and then Voldemort coming back just threw a wrench in everything."

"Oh, sure, blame Voldemort for your problems. _Everything's_ his fault," Hermione joked.

Ginny punched her in the shoulder. "Come on! Admit it, with the war on, romance was the last thing on your mind."

Hermione thought back. She had known that she was attracted to Ginny at the time, yes, but it was true that that took a back burner to concerns having to do with the war, and Voldemort's return, and almost everything else. "Oh, all right, I guess I used that as an excuse too. It was just so easy not to think of your own problems, with an evil maniac threatening to take over the world as we know it…"

"Though there was that one time, that I almost let it slip…remember? That time in the broom shed?" she asked, trying to prod Hermione's memory.

"Oh…oh!" Hermione hit herself on the forehead. "Oh my god! How could I have not seen it? You were being so _obvious_…"

"It was the war, remember? You just said that you were totally preoccupied!"

"Well, yeah, in general I was, but that time all I could think about was you, and how different it would be if only you meant what you were saying in another way, and…arg!"

Ginny had to stop her from hitting her forehead again. "Hey, it's not your fault; I was _trying_ to hide my attraction from you."

"Yeah, and I was doing the same thing. This has got to be pretty much the most ironic thing that's ever happened to anyone, in the history of the world. In fact, I think _we're_ the most ironic thing that's ever happened…"

"Indeed." The layers of irony near boggled Ginny's mind when she thought about it. "But we got together in the end, right?" she said, pragmatically.

"You're right; and words cannot express how happy I am that it worked out this way…" Ginny turned and nuzzled her neck and challenged her to express it without words, which she did with much greater success.

That reminded Hermione of the day's charade, which she had almost forgotten in the ensuing events, and she was overcome with curiosity. "How long _did_ you know it was me before you let on, earlier?

Ginny opened her mouth to answer, but instead yawned expansively. "Long time," she managed to get out, before another yawn overtook her. "Funny story though. Tell you tomorrow?"

Hermione found herself yawning, too. "What time is it?" she mumbled, half to herself, and cast a tempus charm. It was four thirty in the morning. "Yeah, you can tell me tomorrow." There was no rush, after all; they had all the time in the world now, to say anything they wanted. There would be tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that…

"What're you smiling at?" Ginny said, sleepily.

Hermione suppressed another yawn. "Just…us. That we're together. And we'll have all the tomorrows we want."

Ginny smiled, too. "You're so sweet." She kissed Hermione on the cheek and smiled some more. "Thanks for my graduation present, by the way, it was the best ever."

"Oh, it wasn't hard, really –"

But Ginny cut her off. "Not just the pajamas, silly. You, coming today. It's all I could have asked for…"

Hermione didn't have any answer for this, so she just pulled Ginny closer, who obliged by snuggling into her side with a contented sigh. "I do love you, you know," she whispered into Ginny's hair.

Ginny looked half asleep already, but her lips curled into a grin. "Mmmm…love you too, 'mione…night…" And with this she nuzzled still deeper into Hermione's shoulder, and dropped off to sleep at once.

It took Hermione a little longer to fall asleep. She was just so content, and she wanted to savor this moment, simply lying there, holding Ginny in her arms. Her eyes flitted up to Wanda, comatose in her chair across the room, as they fluttered shut. Well, she'd be glad to hold Ginny for as long as it lasts. And then, she would be glad to let her go, if that was what would make her happy…but that day, if it came, was hopefully very far away. And until it did, Hermione felt no need to think about it, and ruin the bliss she felt in this moment.

She smoothed the hair off Ginny's forehead, and just looked at her for a while. She knew her so well, and had known her for so long, but she didn't seem able to tire of looking at her now. She whispered another _I love you_, and thought that this was something she wouldn't get tired of saying, either. When she drifted off to sleep at last, it was with a smile on her face, and her fingers tangled in Ginny's hair.

THE END

Phew!! That's _finally_ done. (Took me long enough!!) Now, on to bigger and better things...

Just because this is complete now doesn't mean I don't care about your opinion...on the contrary, I'd love to know it! And I _always_ reply to reviews :)


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